


Sweet Tongue and Sharp Teeth

by Demetria_0620



Series: ObiKaka&MadaTobi Trashcan [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Dark, F/M, Good ending is not for everyone, I swear there is some form of good ending., Implied/Referenced Suicide, Look at the Tags, M/M, Madara is somewhat a good dad, Promise, Rape/Non-con Elements, Triggering stuffs, Triggers, it's dark, sort of twisted
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-23
Updated: 2019-03-30
Packaged: 2019-08-27 16:53:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 6
Words: 23,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16706296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Demetria_0620/pseuds/Demetria_0620
Summary: Nohara Rin was his first girlfriend.But Uchiha Obito was his first love.And Kakashi broke them both for good.





	1. Sweet Tongue and Sharp Teeth

**Author's Note:**

> So, apparently boredom in department meeting had me writing things like this while pretending to take note.
> 
> Will be edited and updated later, y'all. Kbye

**_“Sweetest tongue has the sharpest teeth.”_ **

_Gasping, Kakashi buries his long pale fingers into the thick midnight-like hair, pulling the other man closer into his embrace, deeper into his kiss, nearer to his soul—all violence and want in their clashing lips, tangled tongue and clanking teeth._

_There is no gentleness in the kiss—nothing that bears any resemblance to the sweet reunion kiss in his sappy romance novel at all—but Kakashi is still drunk in the pleasure, leaning close to taste the vicious warm mouth._

_Even after all these years, Obito still tastes heavenly sweet._

 

* * *

 

 

When he received the rather enthusiastic invitation for the reunion, Kakashi’s first reaction was to block Gai’s number and pretended that he was a caveman living under a rock inside a cave on an island at the middle of nowhere with no means of contact what so ever.

High school wasn’t one of his best phases of life.

He has so many regrets from his high school years. So many mistakes done—some were so despicable and horrible that it was a wonder the world has not punished him for it yet.

 _Years._ It took years of being an angry ball of angst hating the world before he had the senses knocked into his head, making him realised what he had done and turned his anger to utter regret.

Kakashi didn’t wish to be among his old classmates and heard they talked about their fun high school years, completely oblivious to the darkness that he wrought to one of their brightest friends.

He spent these last ten years attempting to atone his sins after all.

All those time he spent staring at the class trip’s picture that was framed by his bed, staring at bright onyx eyes in the picture and tried hard to forget the teary hurtful eyes his memories brought up.

He ditched his promising future as a neurologist to become a kindergarten teacher; all because he was haunted by a bright enthusiastic smile that was so similar to his students’ smiles that it shattered his broken heart.

He always stopped in his path to help those who needed it—from little old ladies to angry yowling cat stuck in a tree—even when he was already late to his appointments, just because that was something that his first love would do.

The first love that he has ruthlessly broken.

Kakashi has no intention at all to go to his high school reunion.

It would break him all over again to see their incomplete roster and knew that he was the one who caused the absence of their class’ bright ball of sunshine.

But of course, all hope of ignoring the invitation went outside the window when Rin literally broke his front door.

She was angry and petty enough to have him suffer through this reunion after all.

 

* * *

  

“That’s so mean of you,  _Hatake_ ,” the brown-haired woman hissed, lips curled to a pleasant smile despite the way her eyes shone with malice and years-buried anger. “And one would have thought you would open the door for your first girlfriend.”

She tossed the crowbar onto the couch, rounding over the coffee table to stand right in front of his hunched form.

“I’m not going, Rin,” he mumbled, fiddling with his fingers. “I’m busy—”

“Moping?” she cut him off, voice cold and void of any pleasantries. “I’m not asking you, Hatake. I’m ordering you to come to our reunion.”

“Rin,” Kakashi sighed, lifting his head up to meet her gaze. “I—”

“You at least owed me that after all those years you lied to me, asshole.”

Kakashi promptly lowered his gaze again to his lap, feet stretching under the table to toe with Pakkun’s chubby belly. The little pug huffed and licked his toes soothingly, and Kakashi felt a little bit comforted that at least something in this world didn’t hate him to his very core.

“I told you that I’m sorry,” he murmured.

“And I haven’t forgiven you,” she deadpanned.

There was a beat of silence.

Then, there was a deep suffering sigh before the plush cushion next to him sink as Rin’s warmth lined up along his own. She didn’t touch him. Didn’t offer a hug like she freely did during their high school years. Didn’t reach out a hand to hold his shaking ones.

He didn’t deserve the comfort of her touches anyway.

“He said that he will be there too, you know?”

That had Kakashi to snap his head up and stare at her in shock and hope.

“He is—?”

_Alive?_

He didn’t dare to ask, fearing the answer that he would receive.

Red splatters and glazed dark eyes flashed into his mind, accompanied with the blaring sound of sirens and loud anguished voice of a horrified father.

“Asuma’s father has a business connection with Uchiha-san," Rin hummed, looking outside to the horizon through the open sliding window. "We reached him, somehow. It took a collective effort, but he has agreed to come."

Kakashi took that information slowly, processing it with a twinge of relief washing his whole body.

_He’s alive._

Rin didn’t even bat a lash when Kakashi buried his face to his palms and  _cried_.

_Obito's alive._

 

* * *

 

 

Nohara Rin was his first girlfriend.

But Uchiha Obito was his first love.

And Kakashi broke them both for good.

 

* * *

 

Kakashi didn’t remember when he started to look at his classmate with eyes clouded with want and lust.

But he remembered seeing the sparks of love in Obito's dark eyes. He remembered seeing the adorable flush on the older boy's face every time the raven-haired talked with their class rep. He remembered seeing Obito's gaze lingered on Rin's back, only for the dark-haired boy to duck his head into his folded arms and smiled at the surface of his table. He remembered leaning over Obito's hunched shoulders and saw the delicate sketch of Rin's smile on the empty pages of what that was supposed to be their classic literature notebook. He remembered seeing the fond besotted smile that stretched over Obito's face whenever Rin laughed at his fumbling jokes.

Kakashi remembered seeing Obito falling in love.

And Kakashi decided to stop it.

He was delighted at the betrayed shock that splashed over Obito’s face when he asked Rin out right in the middle of the class.

He was exhilarated with twisted pleasure when Obito’s face contorted in pain and disappointment when Rin accepted his proposal.

Kakashi regretted that he remembered when exactly he started craving for Obito’s pain.

 

* * *

 

 

“Hurt her and you’ll pay.”

It was cute.

Despite being two years younger, Kakashi towered over his crush by a few inches. He has always been tall for his age and when the school said that he should skip to a higher grade that would fit his genius mind, he blended right in with the classmates that were supposed to be his seniors of two grades.

And one of his seniors was so darn cute.

Obito was sprouting threats at him, yet Kakashi could only look at the older boy and wonder if those lips would taste as good as they looked like.

Would it taste sweet like all the chocolates Obito consumed on hourly basis? Would it feel as soft as they looked like—all wet and plush like that?

Obito’s shock came in a choked gasp when Kakashi leant in and claimed those lips, silencing the threats with his hunger and greed for the older boy. He easily captured those resisting hands with his own, pinning the shorter teen against the wall, plastering his body to Obito’s and slipping his thigh between the shaking legs.

Obito tasted  _heavenly_.

And Kakashi couldn’t get enough.

He squeezed the squirming wrists in his grip, tilted his head and pried Obito's lips open until he got to invade the resisting mouth, eyes closed in pure want when there was a tiny whimper that slipped the older boy's mouth. He kissed his crush thoroughly, wanting to claim everything that the older boy owned and by the time they separated, those lips were red and bruised from the kiss and Obito was breathing with so many difficulties that tears dripped from his eyes.

Kakashi felt oddly aroused at such pathetic sight.

He made his arousal known by rubbing up against the spread legs, pleased when he felt the half-forming bulge inside the dark fabric of their uniform pants.

Want. He wanted to own his crush so fucking bad.

And he had such a perfect hostage to get what his want.

“Obito-senpai~” he crooned, nosing the pulsing jugular of the bobbing throat. “I’m horny. I want to fuuuccck~”

 _I want to fuck you_.

“Go fuck yourself, asshole.”

Kakashi grinned.

“Why do that when I have a perfectly beautiful girlfriend?”

Kakashi knew that his bait was bitten when all colours drained from Obito’s face.

“DON’T YOU DARE, YOU BASTARD—!"

The punch that hit his chest afterwards was weak and shaky it barely gave impact.

Obito was so darn cute, threatening and throwing punches at Kakashi over the girl that would never look his way.

“Maa, senpai,” he cooed, planting his lips on the tantalising pale skin and suckled a love bite there. “Would you like to be her replacement instead?”

Kakashi knew that he has won when Obito jerked his chin and glared at him in the arrogant manner of all untamed lovers has before the older boy tugged him down for another kiss.

Kakashi happily indulged in that kiss.

See? The genius always got what he wanted.

 

* * *

 

Obito's defiance stubbornness persisted even after Kakashi has bent him over every surface possible and filled his tight sweet hole with sticky cum all the way up to the brim. The glare he directed at Kakashi remained fierce and defiant even when the younger boy forced him to beg for his own release. The hateful grit of his teeth was present and radiated with hatred every time Kakashi forced him over the edge. The way he picked up himself with a strange defiant resolution to ignore Kakashi was firm and unwavering, even after the younger boy pestered him for a kiss or two.

Somehow Kakashi found no pleasure in their arrangement.

He wanted to see obedience and pain. Not this stubborn defiance.

Thus, he stepped up the game.

It wasn’t long before Obito started to crack. 

 

* * *

 

 

“P-please!”

Kakashi grinned and leant down to bite the bruised throat, honestly enjoying the thought that Obito would be receiving lots of questioning look for wearing a turtleneck inside his uniform in the middle of summer. He slid out of the abused hole before ramming back in, earning him a startled choke from the older boy.

"Please, it hurts..."

Kakashi hushed him with another thrust, loving the way Obito's grip on the sheets grew slack while heavy breath escaped his battered bruised body with way too many difficulties to be normal.

"I'm sorry," Obito's voice was soft and ragged. "Kakashi, please..."

Kakashi kissed the tears away.

"Maa, that wasn't so hard right?" he hummed, kissing the gaping lips with furious passion. "If you behave from the beginning, I won't have to resort to hurting you to make my point," he added, fingers skimming lightly over the bruised ribs.

"I'm sorry," Obito wept, hurt and broken.

Kakashi kissed him again.

He did it. His beloved crush has completely submitted to his whims, broken after the humiliation and abuse Kakashi has put him through.

It took half of the school term to train his lover to be obedient to him, but it was worth it.

Not that Kakashi didn't enjoy the training period. There was something unexplainably arousing to watch Obito's back and knew that the older boy was struggling to not loudly react every time Kakashi toyed with the settings of the remote. It was necessary preparation to loosen that hole up because their lunch break was short and Kakashi really wanted to eat his lunch, so either Obito agreed to that or Kakashi would fuck him raw and dry in the school's toilet stall.

It was even more satisfying when Obito’s training ended up better than expected, making the older boy so pliant and obedient like a pitiful dog, submitting to Kakashi’s whims with unwilling tears in his eyes.

It was so arousing and fun. Kakashi enjoyed the tears that glazed Obito’s dark eyes. He was in love with the pained whimper that slipped past the older boy’s mouth, enjoying the way Obito’s sensitive body tore open under his harsh thrust and blood trickled down along with his semen down the pale thighs. He enjoyed the horrified look on Obito’s face when he immortalised the beauty into his phone’s memories, keeping a specific folder in there to keep him company whenever Obito’s father visit and he could not enjoy his sweet little lover.

Not that it stopped Kakashi from fucking Obito raw right on the man’s bed as Obito struggled to act normal while answering his father’s call.

Good times.

Kakashi was over the moon. Sure, he still has to spend some time to pretend to be a good boyfriend for Rin, but Rin was busy with her college's entrance exam anyway, so there weren't many dates for Kakashi to pretend that he would enjoy. All in all, Kakashi was happy to have Obito to himself.

His deluded mind didn’t pick up on the way Obito’s bright eyes have dulled.

He didn’t notice the way his beloved lover curled up on himself and cried after Kakashi was done using him.

He didn’t realise that Obito’s body has grown so broken under the abuse.

He didn’t realise that Obito’s mind was fractured with trauma and hurt.

He didn’t realise that he has approached his love in a horribly wrong way that it ended up destroying everything that he has loved.

He didn’t realise everything until it was too late.

He didn’t realise it until he met Obito’s glazed empty eyes as blood bloomed on the black asphalt like some morbid mockery of the red roses in his hands.

In the midst of blaring sirens and hushed horrified voices, Kakashi watched in numb horror as the light faded from his first love's eyes.


	2. Poison and Honey

_Seeing Obito again has thrown Kakashi into a bog of mixed emotions and heartache._

_Like the drama king his father is known as, Obito's arrival at the party is head-turning. Silence falls upon them all as all eyes turn toward his direction when he steps into the hall where they choose to conduct their reunion party._

_Obito is the last to arrive after all, and for a moment, Kakashi has thought that he won’t even be coming._

_But he does come, fashionably late, and is dressed like he wants to kill by impressing people—all sharp sleek suit of deep midnight and blood red shirt that he leaves unbuttoned slightly lower than his tantalising collarbone. Obito has one arm curled around the slim waist of a blue-haired woman, who curls to his chest as she toys with his collar._

_Genma has straight-up whistled, murmuring how lucky Obito—the awkward and brightly idiotic Obito—is to score such a beautiful woman._

_And Kakashi has to admit, the woman is beautiful, with a face so delicate like it was carved by a loving artist, blue hair that frames her sharp amber eyes and the drop-dead gorgeous body to kill for. The paper flower in her hair and rounded piercing at her lower lips complete her beauty, giving her the spunky unique edge of a dangerously lethal woman._

_But Kakashi only has his eyes on Obito._

_Obito, whose half of his face is now marred with twisted burn scar. Obito, who no longer carries the air of awkward idiot but instead has the same air of lethality like the woman in his arm. Obito, whose sharp dark eyes are no longer clouded in fear as his gaze wanders around, only to fix on Kakashi’s own._

_Obito, who smirks at Kakashi with a dangerous glint in his eyes._

_Obito, who guides Kakashi to a secluded corner as his girlfriend distracts their classmates._

_Obito, who kisses Kakashi breathless, with the violence so unlike the sweet boy that Kakashi has broken a decade ago._

_Obito, who spews filthy promises as he pins Kakashi to the wall and squeezes his ass._

_Obito, who still tastes heavenly delicious even if something in Kakashi’s mind whispers in panic that he is drinking in poison instead of honey._

_Kakashi ignores his own self-preservation instinct. He let himself drowns in their filthy reunion kiss, murmuring apologies over and over again to the sweet lips of his first love._

_Obito doesn't answer his apologies._

 

* * *

 

Obito’s high school life was hell.

It was all springs and summer in the beginning, when he started to learn to love the girl that stole his heart.

Then Hatake Kakashi stepped in like unwanted dark cloud and turned his springs and summer to cold harsh winter.

He never understood why Kakashi singled him out and forced him into this twisted fucked up relationship of theirs when the younger boy already has Rin as his  _girlfriend._

“Mine,” the word was growled to the back of his neck, teeth grazed the broken skin before sinking down again as if Kakashi wanted to make sure that his claim was clear. “You’re mine, senpai.”

Obito braced himself against the wall when that harsh bite was punctuated with another ruthless thrust that made his legs went weak and his body spasm in pleasure against his own will. His fists curled against the wall and he struggled to resist the urge to punch the cocky brat, reminding himself that he did this for Rin, that as long as this psychotic brat was satisfied with Obito, he wouldn’t go after Rin and ruined the girl’s promising future.

It never crossed Obito’s mind that Kakashi genuinely wanted him instead of Rin.

It never crossed Obito's mind that the gentle lips claiming his own in a careful kiss were not a delusion of his post-orgasmic humiliated mind.

It never crossed Obito’s mind that the hands that tended to his injuries were genuinely apologetic and not some twisted humiliation Kakashi wrought on him.

For all that he knew, he was in pain and Kakashi was his personal hell.

 

* * *

 

 

Sometimes, Obito wanted to confide in his father.

The man loved him to death, and should Obito confided in him, surely his father would put an immediate end to this torment. It would only take one call, and his old man would drop everything and took the first flight that would bring him back to his son’s side.

But then, Obito thought of Rin and the intention to seek help from his father instantly died.

Rin, who trustingly smiled at Kakashi, completely believing that her boyfriend was a normal and cute brat instead of the sociopathic manipulative rapist that made Obito’s life miserable.

Held back upon that thought, Obito immediately gritted his teeth and psyched himself for the next dreaded text from his tormentor.

He limped around his empty living room, stepping around the meagre number of boxes that he still hasn’t the time to unpack, considering that he only recently moved out of his aunt’s house to the apartment that his father gifted him. Mikoto has started noticing the odd bruises and limps in his gait, and he has immediately moved out using the excuse of wanting more silence and peace to study for his college entrance exam.

Mikoto was scarily perceptive, and as if to make it worse, she has her sons as her loyal informant.

Obito would not be able to hide anything from three sets of watchful horrifying eyes—even though two of those sets were wide and all adorable—and he did not want Rin to receive the brunt of Kakashi's wrath when Obito was the one who could not keep a secret.

So he moved out and suffered in silence.

The only support he has was the old friend that selflessly offered him silent help.

To be honest, he wasn’t expecting _Kisame_ out of all people to be the one who supported him and kept him strong up until this day. But, the world was a curious funny place and Obito found help from the very person who was feared and isolated because he looked like he would crush one’s skull with a simple grip.

(Kisame probably could do just that, but _wouldn’t_.)

Never, ever, judge a book by its cover.

Obito staggered towards his medicine cabinet, looking for the much-needed painkillers to ease his attempt to falling asleep tonight. Kakashi has kept him after school, indulging himself with Obito's body until Obito could not walk more than ten metres without doubling over in pain.

Thankfully, his usual path home passed by Kisame’s current construction site.

The taller teen didn’t even think twice to help. He simply asked permission for a break from his supervisor and jogged towards Obito to haul Obito onto a piggyback and carried him all the way home despite the fact that they have been out of contact ever since junior high’s graduation.

Obito felt guilty sometimes, taking up Kisame's break time so that the taller teen could haul his broken ass home.

But Kisame never complained or asked anything. Never prying, never judging. Just a simple act of kindness.

Leaning onto the walls as support, Obito reached for his medicine cabinet, taking out the homemade salve that he bought from his former classmate. The messy scrawl on the instruction label reminded Obito of motherly nagging from his behemoth friend, and he couldn’t help but quirk a fond smile.

Kisame might be a high school drop-out that looked like a vicious gang member, but the behemoth teen was actually a giant sweetheart that mother-hen everyone and has enough knowledge of traditional herbs and medicine that Obito preferred this salve rather than the ones they sold in the pharmacy.

The Hoshigaki should've had more recognition for their traditional medicine, to be honest. This stuff was a godsend and worked like miracles on Obito.

Naturally, Obito returned for a steady supply of the those. He was always in pain anyway.

And like a good friend Obito never knew he had, Kisame has wordlessly helped him without any prodding questions, tending to his bruises and basically being a mother hen whenever Obito stopped by his family shop, adopting Obito among the ranks of his younger siblings.

(It felt nice to be cared for like that.)

If he has written a long recommendation e-mail for his friend, listing all skills that Kisame has and sent them to his uncle—who happened to have vast contacts and was the HR director of the Uchiha Group—it wasn't anyone's business.

He wanted to help a friend gets a better chance of life, okay?

He owed Kisame that much.

Smiling ruefully, Obito slathered his bruises with the salve, groaning in pure relief at the numbing sensation the cool salve had on his pain before he attempted to gather his strength to get dressed.

He was too exhausted to even do that. What a joke.

Thus, after a rather painful shuffle to retrieve one of his father's shirt, Obito ended up collapsing on the man's bed altogether, towel still wrapped around his waist as he drowned in the comforting scent of his father. In normal occasions, he would've denied that he clung to his old man's lingering presence like a desperate child, but he  _was_  desperate—hurt and so helplessly alone (no, he could never tell Kisame about this, because there was no telling what his friend would do, and an attack on Kakashi wouldn’t do Kisame any good)—that his mind demanded comfort from a strong familiar presence. His body was sore, littered with bruises—some fresh purples while others were ugly yellows—and his ass hurt like hell, especially after the obsessive, almost deranged cleaning up he has done once he was strong enough to pick up himself off the front door.

All in all, he felt like shit and wanted to curl up and die.

Obito rolled his eyes to the side, where his phone laid innocently on the bedside table. He pursed his lips, contemplating his options. He felt so alone now than ever. Kisame—bless his soul—was the best thing Obito had, but the behemoth teen was already burdened with the stress of being the head of his family, having to flunk out of school just so that he could raise his younger siblings.

Obito didn’t have the heart to pile the burden of his problems onto his kind-hearted friend.

As for his other friends…well, Obito didn’t really have any.

Despite being the bright ball of sunshine of the class, he wasn’t particularly close to anyone else apart from Rin. His classmates naturally flocked around Kakashi—the genius boy who was so much better than average Obito—and that fact has never made Obito felt any more hopeless than now.

He needed a comforting presence on his side.

Thus, Obito reached out and hit the speed dial before he could even change his mind.

Naturally, the phone was answered before it could even ring twice.

“Obi?”

Despite everything, Obito found his lips curled to a smile upon hearing the deep baritone of his father’s voice. He curled up on himself again, happy that his father seemed to have forgotten how his last call has ended up—when Kakashi broke into his house when Obito was in the middle of a call with his father, proceeding to screwing him breathless right on the man’s bed while he was still on the line—because Obito would really appreciate a normal call right now instead of the interrogation that would surely happen if his father brought up the oddness of their last conversation.

(Kakashi was a sick twisted soul who took pleasure in Obito’s humiliation of being fucked senseless while his father was on the other side of the phone call.)

“Hey, Dad,” he croaked, clearing his throat once he realised that the sheer relief of hearing the man’s voice has broken all strong mental barrier he has put up ever since he was trapped in his hell. “You busy?”

“Hold on,” the man said, and Obito heard a rustle, as if the phone was pressed against a fabric instead. “Izu, take over,” he heard the man barked.

“Aniki?”

“Take over the fucking meeting.”

“Madara-sama! This is disrespectful—”

“Oh, shut it.”

Obito quirked an amused brow at the sharp snap of his temperamental father.

“Yeah, yeah,” he then heard his uncle’s dismissive laugh. “Say ‘hi’ to Obi-chan. Tell him that I miss his cute little mug.”

“Not a kid anymore,” Obito promptly growled to the phone just in time he heard another rustle, followed by his father’s amused snort. "Stop calling me that."

“Yeah, no,” Madara huffed from the other line, moving away from the enraged shouts and Izuna’s dismissive drawl. “You’re still our cute little button.”

Obito groaned and buried his face into a pillow, inhaling deeply. "Dad!" he moaned, despite the uselessness of such an attempt.

Madara laughed.

Obito felt a bit comforted at the sound.

“How’re you doing, Obi?” Madara hummed, sounding insanely cheerful. “You’re eating well? Mikoto told me that you moved out. I hope you’re not living off instant ramen and take-outs.”

Obito immediately thought of the pile of take-out containers and ramen cups that he hasn’t got the time to throw out and quickly blurted out a denial.

“No, of course not. I can cook!”

Or Kisame could. But he couldn’t cook for Obito every day.

Madara didn’t sound the least bit convinced. “Obito….”

“Really!”

“We all know that you’re a worse cook than me and I burnt down the kitchen trying to boil water.”

That was both a lie and the truth.

His father really did burn the kitchen and set the fire alarm off while trying to boil water (much to Izuna’s pure frustration and charging), but Obito managed to cook the instant ramen, so he  _definitely_ was not the worse cook among the two of them.

Being a little shit he was, Obito promptly pointed that out to his father.

It was so calming to hear his father squawked in indignance from the other line.

“I’m not hopeless!” the man sputtered.

“Without Uncle Izuna,  _you_ would have been living with coffee and candies as your staple diet,” Obito teased. “At least I still get my carbs from the ramen.”

"You're guilty of having sweet tooth too, brat."

“I inherited that from you. Not my fault.”

Madara’s voice was fond and dripping with love when he sighed a soft; “Brat.”

“Old man,” Obito retorted with a genuine smile.

“Hey!”

Obito grinned, practically could  _see_  his father flailed and spluttered.

“Old man~” he crooned teasingly.

“I’M JUST FORTY YEARS OLD!”

Obito burst into a genuine laugh, feeling completely safe and at ease for the first time in months.

 

* * *

 

“The phone would combust if you keep staring at it like that, Aniki.”

Madara snapped his contemplating gaze away from the phone upon that dry comment from his little brother, lips quirking to a strained smile when Izuna pulled the chair opposite to him. The younger man silently offered a soup bowl-sized mug of coffee at him, of which Madara has reached out to accept the coffee out of sheer reflex, but didn’t instantly drink in like he usually did.

Izuna’s easy-going smile dropped.

“ _What_?”

Madara pursed his lips, fingers tightening around the warm ceramic. “I think something is wrong.”

“Obi?” Izuna asked, tilting his head, only resuming when his elder brother nodded an affirmative. “What did he tell you?”

“That’s the problem,” Madara murmured, exhaling a deep breath. “He didn’t tell me  _anything.”_

Izuna’s dark eyes promptly narrowed but he remained silent regardless.

“He says that everything is fine yet…,” Madara exhaled, wincing.

Something felt horribly off when he heard his son’s voice earlier. Obito’s voice has sounded so hopeful and desperate when he asked of Madara’s schedule, hence the reason Madara ditched everything onto Izuna despite the Hyuuga’s enraged complaints, the Aburame's offended frown and Tobirama’s narrowed red eyes. There was something about Obito’s voice that felt  _forceful_ , like he was trying to fake a cheerful tone and it vaguely reminded Madara of that one time Obito fell off a tree and tried to fake ignorance over his broken ribs for the whole day.

And Madara was promptly reminded of the last time he called Obito. His son has sounded oddly _breathless_ , for the lack of better term, but has claimed that he had a fever and simply had trouble breathing because of it. Madara wasn’t entirely convinced, but Obito insisted to drop the matter, all the while skilfully leading Madara to a different topic.

Now that Madara thought about it, he should’ve pried more.

Not to mention the long-sleeved turtlenecks that his son has been sporting every time Madara visited. It wasn’t even cold enough to wear those, and Obito was simply not the type of child that would choose fashion over comfort.

Now that Madara thought about it, something felt horribly _wrong._

“You had a gut feeling that something is wrong,” Izuna mused, reading him like an open book.

Madara’s head jerked up from staring forlornly at his coffee, the hesitance dimmed when he opened his mouth and asked his little brother;

“Should I—?”

Izuna levelled a flat gaze onto his brother’s worried eyes.

“Would you?” he hummed, quirking a tiny fond smile. “Would you trust your fatherly instincts? The paternal intuition?”

Izuna didn’t even bat a lash when Madara stood and grabbed his coat, coffee left untouched on the table as he strode out of his office like a vicious storm rampaging his way out of the building.

Izuna knew how much Madara adored his kids despite the fact that they were the end products of an arranged marriage with someone that he didn’t even love.

Naori was a beautiful woman of respectable background, yes, but Madara honestly didn’t swing that way since he was  _thirteen_. It was a miracle that they were able to adhere to the elders’ insistence pressure to produce heirs despite Madara being gayer than rainbows and Naori had no interest in procreating in the first place.

Probably the reason Madara loved those adorable little buggers so much. They were miracles.

Plus, those little buttons were so loveable.

Even  _Tobirama_ was fond of the brats, and the Senju was the personification of ice blocks with no heart whatsoever.

Speaking of said Senju…

Izuna whipped out his phone, hitting the contact list after a few seconds of browsing.

“Hey, Senju,” he greeted once the call was answered, not wasting any time as he bulldozed through his words. “Aniki is heading down. If you’re still there, give him a lift back to Konoha." Tobirama made a displeased noise at being ordered, but Izuna pointedly ignored it and added; "...his brat is probably in trouble. Waiting to set up the flight would take too much time that he would start traumatising the airline staffs again.”

They still haven't found the replacements for those resigned staffs, to be honest. And the airport will ban them if this happened again.

“Uchiha, what the hell.”

Tobirama’s tone was dry and bewildered.

“Come on, Senju,” Izuna huffed. “You already have the plane waiting for you at the airport. I’d owe you one for this.”

Izuna would never admit it out loud, but he would turn the world upside down for his nephews too. Sacrificing his ego to ask this Senju's favour was basically nothing big if his nephews were on the line.

“Is this the reason he ditched the meeting?”

“His brat called,” Izuna retorted, as if that would justify Madara's move to ditch the meeting with  _representatives_ from multiple big companies they wanted to build a connection with without a second thought. "Would you blame him?"

There was a silent snort of laughter before Izuna heard the sound of engine revving followed by the sharp screech of tyres against the tar. He heard continuous honking from Tobirama's side, and the gentle hum of the engine grew louder for a brief few seconds.

It almost launched Izuna into panic mode.

“ _Senju_ ,” he growled. “ _Are you driving?!_ ”

"Tell your brother to wait," Tobirama hummed, dismissive to Izuna's panic, because he is an asshole that likes fast cars and has no qualms over breaking traffic rules. "Be there in a minute. Had to make a U-turn at the café intersection before I could speed up."

“YOU CAN’T MAKE A U-TURN THERE—”

“Awh, look at that. The sign is vandalised.”

With that, Tobirama hung up.

Izuna stared at his phone in disbelief.

 

* * *

 

 

Obito’s relief was short-lived.

He was about to end his call with his father when there was a click, his front door was opened and there were silent footsteps making their way in. It didn't take long for Kakashi to intrude the bedroom as if he owned the place.

Well, he owned Obito, so he might as well own this place too.

“Bye, Dad,” Obito struggled to let his voice remained calm despite the fear that started to climb up his spine when Kakashi locked the door. “Love you.”

He hung up the exact time Kakashi’s arms circled his waist and warm lips found his neck.

"What? No love for me?"

Obito turned his head to the side, staring at the dark starless night out the window.

Kakashi huffed an annoyed laugh against Obito's skin.

“You smell very nice,” the psychotic brat murmured, inhaling deeply at Obito’s throat. “I like it.”

It almost felt gentle and comforting, if only Obito didn’t know the true purpose Kakashi came.

“Let’s get this over with,” he hissed, knowing that he might have to skip school tomorrow again, considering how hurt he was right now and how much worse it would be once Kakashi was through with him. “How do you want me, psycho?”

He didn’t see the way slate-grey eyes narrowed in anger, but he definitely winced at the sudden grip on his bruised hips.

Before he could even snap at the younger boy, the air was knocked out of him by a strong punch to his gut. He spluttered, hurt and confused at the sudden non-sexual violence before he was dragged by the hair and thrown onto the mattress like he didn't weigh anything. When he looked up to meet Kakashi’s gaze, he only saw pure anger in those slate-grey orbs.

“Kakashi?”

“Psycho, huh?” Kakashi drawled, fingers digging into Obito’s skin. “ _Fine_.”

The last word was said in a growl.

Obito knew that it would  _hurt_.

 

* * *

  

And hurt it did.

Kakashi was vicious tonight, ranting something about Obito cheating on him, which was laughably ironic considering that Kakashi was the one who cheated on _Rin_.

It didn't make sense. This sudden jealousy. They weren't lovers. And the psycho knew that Obito was talking to his father. Where did this cheating accusation come from?

Regardless, Obito woke up hours later, hurt and sore, with Kakashi creepily peppering his feverish forehead with kisses.

Pointedly ignoring the lips that were kissing him, Obito curled his body into a ball, attempting to hold himself together despite how close it was for him to break apart. His throat was raw with overuse and strain after being fucked and strangled—something that he didn’t even remember, considering that he has passed out by the second time Kakashi’s hands cut off his oxygen supply. Fine red lines littered his body, while some of the bruises on his body were leaking blood due to the abuse from Kakashi’s sharp canine. His limbs were so weak and shaky, he couldn’t even move to crawl his way away from the possessive embrace.

He was hurt  _everywhere._

And his head was spinning with pure pain, while his body too warm for comfort.

“I think you have a fever,” the psychotic brat murmured, placing a cool hand over Obito’s forehead. “You can’t go to school like this.”

Obito wanted to retch at the thick tone of care in that voice. As if he could go to school after being used like this. He didn’t even have the strength to get up, let alone to go through hours at school.

“Maybe I shouldn’t bath you while you were out,” the silver-haired brat frowned, and that was the moment Obito noticed that he was strangely clean and clothed. “Do you need anything? I can skip school today to look after you.”

Obito wanted to spat at Kakashi's face and yelled that no, he didn't need anything, especially to be cared for by his own tormentor.

But he didn't do that. He was already in too much pain to begin with. Provoking Kakashi would do him more harm than good.

The sociopathic brat finally left Obito alone after a long moment of silence. Though, it wasn’t long before Obito heard the vacuum powering up and Kakashi’s voice humming happily as he cleaned the apartment. The younger teen was oddly gentle when he carried Obito to lie on the couch while he cleaned the bedroom and replaced the sheets, throwing everything into the washer like he was a domestic housewife doing the chores for the family.

It was confusing as hell, especially when Kakashi shuffled into the living room to drop a kiss on Obito’s forehead, crooning comforting words like a concerned lover he was not, before leaving with a gentle kiss on the lips and promises to bring back some food and chocolates for Obito.

All in all, Kakashi’s behaviour was very, very confusing.

Dangerous, yes, but confusing too.

But Kakashi was definitely skipping school today and would be coming back. He would be coming back to hurt Obito even more and Obito promptly curled up on himself at that thought, the fear clouded his fever-addled mind.

He didn’t want to be hurt anymore.

He has had enough.

He has had enough.

He wanted to be free of this torment.

Thus, Obito sent out love and gratitude messages to the five people that he cared so much—his family, Kisame and Rin—before he staggered his way to the balcony.

Then, Uchiha Obito leapt for his freedom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's gonna get darker, guys. I think y'all knew what's going to happen. It would be dark.
> 
> And after reading so many fanfictions, I could not get giant sweetheart Kisame out of my mind.


	3. Grief and Regrets

_“I’m sorry.”_

_Kakashi gasps, legs trembling under the sheer force of the mad intrusion into his body, but he holds on, accepting everything with a resigned acceptance._

_He has done worse after all._

_"Shut up."_

_Those two words sound more like vicious growl than anything else, ugly and twisted with pure hatred._

_Wise decision is to follow the order and remains silent._

_But it has been over ten years. Over ten years he has spent thinking that he has lost this man for good, that he has lost the chance to seek forgiveness and acknowledge his wrongdoings—that the last time he held this sweet boy in his arms was when he abused and broken him._

_Though, it might already be too late._

_"Forgive me."_

_There is no answer but the painful dig of blunt painted fingernails into the bare skin of his hips and the sharp thrust that tear his body open._

_Kakashi tries again. "I'm sorry."_

_He begs, despite everything, despite the sinful mix of pain and pleasure that wrecks his body and fogs his mind, his lips part open in a delirious chant of those two words, desperately seeking forgiveness from the broken fragments of his first love._

_Broken. Destroyed. Shattered._

_That is Obito now._

_There is no trace of the sweet bright boy that he has loved once upon a decade ago. Gone. Everything that Kakashi has loved is completely gone._

_“I don’t care,” the words are hissed to his ears, sharp and ragged, dripping with the mad twinge of anger mixed with lust. “It no longer matters, Hatake.”_

_“Obito, I’m sorry—”_

_There is another sharp precise thrust, and Kakashi’s fists curl on the wall, bracing himself when the force drives him further, sending him flat against the cold surface. There is no gentleness at all—and Kakashi honestly isn’t expecting any—as vicious teeth sink in his skin hard enough to draw blood, the grip on his hips tightens and Obito shudders against his back._

_Pressing his cheek to the cold wall, Kakashi could barely make out the amused gleam of amber eyes that belong to Obito's fiancée. She is leaning against the wall, having arrived shortly after Obito cut Kakashi’s desperate attempt of apologising by slamming him to the walls and silencing him with a kiss._

_Considering that no one has been looking for them, Kakashi is sure that Obito and Konan had this coordinated beforehand._

_Doesn’t matter. At least for this short moment, he had Obito back._

_Mangled lips map his bruised skin, just a brief touch, before Obito steps back, sliding out with a lewd noise—leaving Kakashi sore and empty._   _Kakashi crumples on the floor, weak and thoroughly used, his shaking legs are completely useless to help him maintain any remnants of dignity._

_"Need a tissue, Tobi?" The woman hums, cocking one elegant brow as she offers a pack of tissue to her breathless fiancé._

_Obito grins. "Why don't you help me clean up instead?"_

_She snorts delicately._

_Kakashi watches with dazed eyes—the throbbing hard weight between his legs is momentarily forgotten—as the woman side-steps his crumpled used body straight into Obito's waiting embrace. Her painted lips claim the half-marred lips in a heated kiss while her hands slip down to peel the condom off, wiping the little remnant of blood with the tissue. She gives Obito’s softening cock a little squeeze, drinking in the resulting moan with a smirk and quickly steps back, rounding over to tip Kakashi’s chin up before Obito could even grasp her hips closer._

_With a vicious smirk, she dumps the content of the condom directly into Kakashi’s panting mouth._

_Forcing Kakashi’s jaw shut, she croons;_

_“Lovely, isn’t he?”_

_Kakashi swallows, tasting the bitterness on his tongue._

 

* * *

 

 

Tobirama has never seen Madara so… _panicked_.

Over thirty-eight years of life, and a good three decades of that lifespan Tobirama has spent around the Uchiha, never has Tobirama seen the older man  _this_ frantic and panicked.

They just landed in Konoha Airport—a tiring 8 hours flight from Elemental Capital to the heart of Fire Country—and despite the exhaustion that was written all over the older man’s face, the first thing that Madara did once they were out of the private plane was to hit the speed dial of his phone.

8-hours flight, of which the older man has spent nibbling on his thumb and looking out of the window with impatience. He didn't sleep or nap, too busy staring at his phone screen—the adorable beaming smiles of his sons—and Tobirama knew that Madara didn't sleep much yesterday either, if Izuna's rant prior to the meeting was any indictor.

Madara must have been extremely exhausted.

Yet, the Uchiha soldiered on, not even pausing to entertain the fatigue that was already creeping on his face as he worried over his phone call.

Tobirama watched with a mildly amused interest as Madara’s panic escalated when the son that was at the end of the line didn’t answer his call. Mildly amused, yes, but there was no denying that the lack of response had set off the panic alarm in Tobirama’s head too. He knew those kids—has practically taken them under his care when Madara was hounded by the Uchiha elders and the man did not trust any strangers to babysit his newborn sons—so he knew that this behaviour was not normal.

Tobirama has always had a soft spot for kids, so he didn’t complain when a wailing Hashirama dumped the equally wailing babies onto his lap.

His little ducklings, as Touka called them, considering that they were attached to him since then, opting to continuous screaming when anyone but Tobirama or their father and uncle tried to hold them.

The sentiments were equally returned, of course. Despite what everyone said about his ice-block personality, Tobirama adored children. He adored Madara's kids. After all, he was their first babysitter and their teacher in almost everything. He was probably an honorary godfather to them, despite what Madara and Hashirama have claimed on that debate.

It was uncommon for any of Madara’s kids to let their father wait like this.

Then, the phone chimed—a message, based on the brief simplistic chime—and Tobirama felt his blood ran cold as all colour drained from Madara’s face.

“Obi,” Madara croaked, voice hoarse with horror.

Tobirama leant over Madara’s shoulder to read the text, only to curse and tug Madara towards the parking lot where his car was parked in the reserved area, so ready to be at his disposal whenever he returned home to Konaha.

_I love you, Dad. Thank you for everything. Love you so much._

Three simple sentences, but Tobirama has seen enough of teen angst during his college years working part-time as a high school tutor and counsellor aide to sense the foreboding implications of those sentences.

He shoved Madara into the passenger seat, not even bothering to check if the older man has buckled up the seat belt or not as he revved his car in a sharp turn, hitting the top speed once he entered the highway.

There might be police sirens and continuous honking following them, but honestly, Tobirama has zero fuck to give.

Beside him, Madara continued to stare at his phone in blank horror.

 

* * *

 

_“But seriously,” Anko giggles—already wasted—as she points a finger in Obito’s direction. “I didn’t expect you to come to our reunion with a girlfriend in tow, Obito.”_

_“Fiancée,” Obito corrects, mangled lips curl to a smirk._

_“Don’t look so smug, Tobi,” Konan snorts, reaching out a delicately manicured hand to tug Obito’s good cheek. “I had to propose because you’re so fucking **slow**.”_

_“We proposed each other at the same time!”_

_“I pulled the ring out first.”_

_“I asked you first!”_

_Anko snorts, waving her hand dismissively to halt the upcoming couple argument. “Yeah, shocker,” she hiccups, tipping her bottle towards Obito. “You used to be so head over heels over Rin.”_

_Rin stiffens, averting her gaze when amber eyes seek her warm brown ones. She had hoped that no one will bring that up once Obito introduced Konan to them. Despite the reunion invitation does come with a plus-one invitation, only Obito has used that invitation, much to everyone’s surprise._

_(No. Kakashi has attempted to bring Pakkun as his plus-one, while Gai has attempted to bring his turtle for the same reason but Rin and Asuma have stopped that madness before it continues.)_

_It still sent a pang of painful guilt to her heart when she remembers the heartache that she has unknowingly let Obito suffered through. Now that he seems happy with Konan, Rin doesn't want the old stories to be a thorn in Obito’s current happiness._

_Rin eventually settles to stare at her lap instead—not wanting to meet Konan’s curious gaze nor does she want to look at Kakashi’s face on her right or Asuma’s sympathetic gaze on her left._

_What a madness—their high school triangle love tragedy._

_"Oh?" Obito tips his head, eyes widened in mild surprise as if he just remembers that. "The crush lasts that long?"_

_Rin's head snaps up to stare at him in disbelief._

_The whole table tenses up upon the question._

* * *

 

_I love you._

Rin has dismissed that text without a second glance.

She was busy with getting ready for school after all. Her mind was half-focused on debating whether to curl her hair or not, while the other half of her attention was mentally arranging the after-school date plan with Kakashi.

Obito wasn’t at the front of her mind at all.

Thus, she has naturally assumed that the text was the random declaration of love that Obito sometimes sent when he was being particularly affectionate or sorely missing his father.

She regretted her easy dismissal of Obito's text when her mother almost broke her door open, rambling about the news of the  _jump_.

Rin has immediately rushed towards Obito’s apartment then—still in her pyjama and fluffy bunny slippers—but it was too late. The ambulance breezed past her as she halted to a stop right behind the barrier that the police has set up, widened eyes fixed on the dark red that was painting the black asphalt.

“No,” she has mouthed back then—a single word whispered in horror.

She didn’t remember bursting to tears and screamed her denial out—everything was a blur of chaotic horror—even when the police officers have to bodily stop her from breaking through the barrier. Rin was only able to regain her coherence when she was sobbing in the embrace of a stranger man—a man, whom later she would learn was Obito’s (sort-of) godfather.

Senju-san has held her until her hysteric screams toned down to soft hiccups, rocking her in his arms until she was able to stop being such a mess. The silver-haired man has sent her home afterwards, leaving before Rin could even ask him to keep her updated about Obito’s condition.

And that was the end of it. Obito simply vanished from her life.

There was no news on Obito at all—not even the teachers dared to say anything when the class hounded them for information—and the only thing that they knew about him after the jump was that their bright bumbling idiot of a classmate has a terrifying temperamental father and a somewhat psychotic uncle with a scary smile.

Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Izuna have come two days after the incident to retrieve Obito’s belonging and school records.

It was terrifying.

Rin was half-expecting to be cornered by the two Uchiha because surely, they would know how she has crushed Obito's heart and quite possibly was the reason that drove him to end his life.

After all, Obito spoke of his father and uncle with deep love and fondness and based on the phone calls she has caught Obito indulged in, that sentiment was returned twice fold. Surely his suicide won’t be taken lightly by the two men.

But they didn’t corner Rin at all.

There were whispers across the school that there was more to Obito’s suicide than what that Rin has initially thought.

The infamous Uchiha patriarch has stormed into the school that day, demanding to meet all teachers with a vicious rage of a grieving father. The school scrambled to adhere to his demand—considering how powerful the man's influence was—and they all have been let off the school early that day.

Rin and a good number of her classmates loitered around the school gate, wanting to at least get a clue of what was going on.

Based on the ashen pale faces of the teachers when they shuffled out of the school, something must have been really wrong for Madara-sama to traumatise the whole hierarchy of the school’s administration.

Then, the very next day, there were few Uchiha whom Rin recognised as officers from Konoha Police Force visited their school, asking around weird questions about Obito. It was enough to invoke the curiousity of the whole school, because nephew or not, surely the Police Chief himself wouldn’t be bothered to interfere unless the case was serious, right? But Uchiha Fugaku has come to question a few teachers and students—Kakashi was oddly included—and it was both horrifying and intriguing to think of.

There must be more that the adults weren’t telling them.

Thus, when everything ended so abruptly, the rumours grew wilder.

The last visit from the Uchiha was a visit from Uchiha Izuna.

It was horrifying.

Anko still had nightmares of it while both Genma and Asuma had to visit the school counsellor for a few times after that visit.

They all remembered the ominuous terror that befallen upon the class when Izuna entered their homeroom.

The Uchiha was smiling—bright and sunny, like his nephew usually smiled—but the way his eyes flitted from one member of the class to another was a promise of murder and death. The man held their gaze with unveiled rage that made a good half of them shifted nervously on their seats, seeming like he was looking for something—taking them apart with just one look, rendering them all to feel utterly exposed as they awaited his judgements. The silence last for an eternity of five minutes—a short time that was enough to make the whole class reflected on their interactions with Obito, wondering if they had a part on what that had driven him to jump off his own balcony.

Then, just like that, Uchiha Izuna stepped between the narrow gap of their tables to place a vase of white flowers on Obito’s table and left without a word.

The class had broken into chaos then.

By now, it was no longer a new story—despite a week has passed—yet it was still a hotly discussed one. The news that Obito attempted suicide. That he jumped off the seventh floor—the balcony of his apartment—and was thankfully not having his brain splattered on the ground due to the sheer luck of trees that cushioned his fall. The rumours told that their bright classmates managed to hold on until the ambulance arrived.

The rumours told them that there had been a hope for survival, no matter how minuscule.

The vase of white flowers on Obito’s table told them otherwise.

 

* * *

 

_“You don’t…remember?” Asuma blurts out of sheer reflex, eyes fixed on Obito. “Your crush on Rin?”_

_Obito tips his head again, looking confused and contemplating before his mangled lips curl up in an amused humour._

_“Heeeh, it makes sense now,” he hums, mismatched eyes flicker briefly to land on Kakashi._

_Then, like a drop of a pin, Obito's whole demeanour shifts._

_“Ne, ne, Obi is not really subtle, is he?” he suddenly croons, planting his elbows on the table and places his face between his palms—looking unbearably cute despite the sudden creepy change of his behaviour. "Obi is so straightforwardly honest and open, isn't he?"_

_Needless to say, the whole class is taken aback._

_“Uh, Obito?” Gai asks, strangely tentative._

_“Obi loves Rin~” Obito croons instead, giggling with a slightly high-pitched childish tone. “But Rin loves someone else...It broke little Obi’s heart!”_

_Rin lowers her gaze._

_Then, as if he was sobering up, Obito’s voice drops an octave to a deep malicious baritone as his next words came out in a purr;_

_“It broke little Obi’s heart," he purrs, eyes trailing in Kakashi's direction, "...among all of the other things…”_

_Beside Rin, Kakashi stiffens._

_Not one soul that gathers there know how to react when Obito dramatically buries his marred face into his palms and **cries**._

_Though, before anyone could even question the sheer weirdness that Obito has randomly pulled out, Konan pulls Obito into her embrace, keeping his head buried on her chest with a hand tangled in his hair. She sends an apologetic look towards the stunned people, and it seems like enough clue for the whole former 3-7 class to put the pieces together and come up with a conclusion._

_It isn't a pretty conclusion._

_“It’s okay, now,’” Konan hums, rubbing a hand up and down Obito’s trembling back, wincing when Obito loudly blows his nose to her dress. “Tobi!” she scolds, sounding more exasperated than anything._

_Obito tilts his face up, chin resting between her cleavage as he gives her the most pathetic teary-eyed look the class has ever seen. His lower lip was jutted out in a pout, trembling with the sheer intensity of a kicked puppy._

_Konan let out a sigh._

_“The things I do for love....,” she smiles, running a thumb under Obito’s eyes to wipe the tears away. “Stop that, love. You’re ruining everyone’s night.”_

_Obito turns his head to stare at his bewildered and concerned former classmates, frowning as if he just realised that they are there. He blinks, looking a bit dazed, before he gingerly separates from his comfy spot against Konan’s breasts, swaying a bit as he stands._

_“Tobi wants to wash his face,” Obito murmurs, looking a bit dazed when he turns towards Kakashi. “Kakashi-senpai can take Tobi to the toilet?”_

_Rin notices that Obito held Kakashi’s gaze for a tad bit longer than necessary._

_Kakashi nods to the weird request—obedient and silent, much to everyone’s surprise—as he takes Obito by the elbow and guides the other man out._

_It was a beat of silence before there is a collective exhale of loud breath._

_“Holy shit,” Genma mouths, clearly having drawn his own conclusion, one hand comes up to curl in his hair. “That was—”_

_Then, he stops and eyes Konan with a sympathetic gaze._

_“You’re an angel,” he adds afterwards. “Is that—?”_

_“Obito jumped off the seventh floor,” Konan smiles, the strain of the topic visible in the tensed line of her lips. “You can’t expect Tobi to be the same afterwards.”_

_“I honestly thought that he is okay,” Anko murmurs to her alcohol, looking shaken. “I thought that he is really okay, oh god. He is definitely NOT okay.”_

_“It had a lasting effect, huh,” Asuma breathes out, voice a bit strained. “Fuck.”_

_“That, and among other things,” Konan confirms, smiling apologetically. “Sorry. He gets like that sometimes," she bows her head, and when she lifts her head up again, her gaze flits towards the entrance with a thoughtful look. "Tobi has never been entirely stable before, so now it has gotten—”_

_Konan waves her hand in an aimless gesture that everyone seems to understand regardless._

_**Worse** , Rin thinks sadly.  _

_She remembers (with deep regret now) that Obito has been showing signs of depression and anxiety a few months before the jump._

_But back then, Rin has thought that he could deal with it._

_Obito should have had a strong support system in his family, considering how (murderously) protective his extended families are._

_Mikoto is not afraid to make her point known whenever it involved her sons and nephew, like that one time she has viciously beaten their predator primary school teacher to pulps when Obito complained about how creepy Shimura-sensei was being with him during the make-up classes._   _Itachi has straight up threatened Rin (in all of his three-feet tall and six-years-old glory) with bodily harm the first time she invited Obito out for a three-day trip to the beach during their last year of junior high._ _Heck, even Obito's youngest cousin is protective of him._ _Little Sasuke has bitten Gai and didn't let go until he was physically pried off the bleeding arm (much to Gai's amusement) when he saw their loud-mouthed friend threw Obito onto the mat during judo practice._

_Obito should have had a strong support system to deal with whatever emotional issues he had._

_Apparently, he didn't._

_“No, we understand,” Kurenai bows her head, fingers tightening around her glass. “After everything, at least he is not—”_

_There is an awkward silence as Kurenai let her words hang in the air._

**_At least he is not completely broken_** _, Rin ponders bitterly._

_“He is lucky to have you,” Gai murmurs. “Such youthful wonderful woman you are!”_

_No one is buying that fake enthusiasm._

_“Yeah, he is lucky he has me,” Konan’s lips curl to a smirk. “How else would Tobi keeps himself in check without me around?”_

 

* * *

  

Class 3-7 dreaded the school days ever since Obito committed suicide.

Bleak. It was like a horde of dark clouds was hanging over their heads. Obito's absence left a prominent impact, despite none of them has ever bothered to acknowledge his bright presence when they still have it. The days heading towards graduation went on monotonously—all repetitive of the same old boring routine.

Rin noticed how much Obito’s absence was affecting their classmates.

Kurenai has taken responsibility for taking care of the flower on Obito's table, replacing the vase with a small orange pot and caring for the flowers as if it was a replacement of their lost friend.

Asuma has reduced his rebellious nature, opting to pocket his cigarettes every time his gaze landed on the empty table because Obito has always been a nag about underage smoking—the perils of living with the Chief Police as his uncle.

Genma has started stockpiling strays behind the gymnasium—much to Raidou’s chargin—where originally there was only that one asshole cat that was being cared for by Obito that lived there.

Gai added orange into his already obnoxious bright green workout suit, smiling forlornly whenever anyone asked about the new addition, his dark eyes immediately flickered towards the class portrait where a smiling Obito was sporting a jacket of the exact same shade of orange.

Anko didn’t seem to have changed at all, but Rin has caught her napping on Obito’s table, murmuring something about idiots in her sleep—the crunchy chocolate bar that she hated with a passion was in her loose grip.

(When they wanted to clean up Obito’s locker for the new students, they were greeted with a rush of the very same chocolate bars flowing out of the locker.)

Kakashi was the only one who was unaffected. He remained cool and indifference towards the class’s grieving of Obito, only sometimes directing angry accusing glare towards Obito’s empty table.

It wasn’t to anyone’s surprise, considering that Kakashi has never been in a good relationship with Obito.

Or so they thought.

It took Rin the whole months leading to graduation to notice that something was terribly off with Kakashi.

Her cute younger boyfriend has grown a temper and sharp tongue in those months. His jibes were sharp and arrogant, and he was being rudely dismissive every time anyone brought Obito up. His temper flared when anyone so much talked about Obito, but it was close to a silent seething fury instead of outright anger.

Thus, only those who were close to him would notice it.

Asuma and Gai have credited it for the mix of grief over Obito's passing and stress of their upcoming graduation and the entrance exam for colleges, so they didn’t bother to force their younger classmate to open up, knowing that the attempt would backfire and Kakashi would shut them out even more.

Rin thought that Kakashi needed space to grieve, thus she allowed her boyfriend to indulge in his coping without bringing the oddness up. Kakashi was being a bit more distant after that, but all in all, he still replied to her texts and agreed to her date plans.

It then took another four years of a cold relationship during college for Rin to embrace the hunch that has long made an appearance in her mind, accepting it with grace when Kakashi finally admitted that he has never loved her in the first place.

It almost broke her—the heartache of knowing that Kakashi simply dated her because Obito loved her so deeply and he wanted Obito’s attention, even if he got it in the worst possible way. When Obito was gone, Kakashi has simply stayed in their deceitful relationship and continued on toying with her feelings out of what he reasoned were pity and _kindness_ of his heart.

Rin has broken his nose for that. To think that she has loved this jerk.

It definitely shattered her heart when she finally realised that Obito’s last message was written with an utterly broken heart, and the boy that was her best friend has chosen suicide over the heartache.

She didn’t even have a grave to grieve. No funeral that she was invited to. No news or rumours that would tell her of Obito, to tell her whether he had survived long enough to suffer or he had died before the ambulance reached the hospital. The Uchiha has coldly turned her away—even the ten-years-old Sasuke has spat cold hatred to her face, blaming her for breaking his Obi-nii's heart—despite her attempts to beg for a means of contact with Obito’s father, wanting to at least visit Obito’s grave.

Nothing. The Uchiha did not allow them any knowledge of Obito.

Rin spent the remaining six years before this reunion—the six years before Asuma called her with the news that Obito was alive after all—hating both herself and Kakashi. She hated Kakashi for breaking both of her and Obito’s hearts and hated herself for not noticing the pain she has unknowingly inflicted on her best friend.

But perhaps everything was too late after all.

The man that came to their reunion was not her Obito.

No. He was not Obito—not the sweet boy they all have lost.

Rin grieved in silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, if you noticed _anything_....friendly reminder that I wasn't even being subtle with the whole Obito thing.
> 
> And I low-key ship Obito and Konan. I don't know why.
> 
> P/s: Tobi has totally resigned himself to have his nails being painted with matching coat with Konan's. #True_Love


	4. Toxic and Wrath

_“You’re mine.”_

_This is toxic._

_This…whatever this twisted relationship is…it is pure toxic._

_Obito is engaged—happily engaged—to Konan and he is planning to get married soon—_

_But Kakashi doesn’t care._

_He takes hold of deep midnight hair, hissing when his body is hitched ever so easily up against the cold tiles of the wall and braces himself against the ruthless thrust, clinging to Obito’s shoulders with the desperate needs to be close to the man that was the boy who stole his heart._

_Even if he bleeds from holding on to these broken fragments that were once Obito, Kakashi refuses to let go._

_“I love you,” he murmurs, brushing his lips desperately against the mangled ones. “I love you.”_

_Obito stiffens, halting mid-thrust, his painted nails—hot pink this week, to match Konan’s breast cancer awareness campaign—dig deep into the bruised skin of Kakashi’s hips. He doesn’t move for a worryingly long time, eyes widened like he is in a trance, acting so disoriented that Kakashi has to remove one hand to cup the heavily scarred cheek._

_“Obito?”_

_The mangled lips curl to a wrathful grimace and the next thing Kakashi knows is that he is slammed back against the wall, one leg is trapped in bruising grip as he is again torn open with the ruthlessness of a wild untamed beast._

_Kakashi accepts it, allowing himself to be abused in such a way and opting to suffer in silence despite the worrying prospect of having one of his young students outside being distracted from Konan’s special origami lesson to look for him._

_This is Obito’s punishment for him and Kakashi is not going to take this away from his love._

_After all, he has done the same to Obito back then too._

* * *

 

Kakashi fled the scene the moment Obito’s eyes fluttered shut.

The dark eyes were glazed with unshed tears and sheen of death, empty as they stared at Kakashi straight into the eyes.

The accusation was clear.

Oh, the accusation was so clear in those onyx orbs even when the light faded from those eyes.

Bruises littered Obito’s pale skin—blooms of purple and fading yellow on the span of pale creamy skin—a compliment to the spreading red on the black asphalt. Deep angry lines ran down the exposed skin of his arms, something that was definitely not the result of his fall because Kakashi knew that there were more of those under the blood-stained shirt. Reddish mark with the slightest hue of violet in the shape of long slender fingers necklaced Obito’s neck.

Kakashi suddenly felt the urge to retch.

He has gone too far. He has gone too far.

He crossed the lines.

He pushed Obito over the lines.

He _murdered_ Obito.

Kakashi fled the scene, not even remembering if anyone has tried to stop him. He didn’t think anyone noticed him as anyone more than a stranger passer-by, considering that no one paid any attention to him as they crowded Obito’s body. He fled to his empty home, locking the door behind him with shaky hands before he slid down to curl on the floor. Tears dripped onto his knees, much to his surprise, because the last he cried like this was when his mother left him.

He didn’t cry when he found his father’s cold body.

No. He didn’t feel any sadness or betrayal when his father committed suicide in this very house. Oh, he was disgusted instead. Coward. Sakumo was a coward.

If Sakumo loved his mother so much, he should’ve chased after the woman and conquered her.

Like how Kakashi did to Obito.

But the old man accepted everything with cowardly resignation, allowing his wife to leave him. The old coward suffered in silence as the woman he loved fell into the arms of another. Instead of chasing after her and doing _something,_ Sakumo has drowned himself in sorrow and alcohol instead.

It didn’t take too long for the depression to consumed him and pushed him to end his life.

Just like Obito.

Kakashi gritted his teeth, feeling the anger that was fuelled by Obito’s betrayal rose up his chest like a blazing inferno. He howled in rage, grabbing the vase on the dresser and threw it across the hallway. It shattered—much like the little fragile thing in his chest—but his anger was even more powerful, moving his body into a mad tantrum as he abused the empty house.

Sakumo was a coward. He died like a coward, taking his own life.

And so did Obito.

The tantrum went on. The house caved to its master’s angry abuse. Things shattered, broken to irreparable fragments.

The tears never stopped.

 

* * *

 

_Retribution is painful._

_But it is well-deserved._

_He has spent over three-quarters of their third year of high school tormenting Obito._ _This? These six months submitting to Obito’s anger is nothing compared to that._

_“Good job,” Obito purrs, nipping on his ears. “Shall we try Konoha’s library next? See if you can remain quiet?”_

_Kakashi lowers his gaze, remembering when he literally fucked Obito inside the school library, so close to other studying students. Obito has ended up with badly bruised wrists_ _—the result of biting his wrists as a desperate attempt to remain silent. It has excited Kakashi back then, to see Obito so obedient to submit to his whims._

_Now, he wants to retch every time those memories resurface._

_Kakashi doesn’t know if it is mercy or torment when Obito silenced him with ruthless fingers violating his mouth._

_But here they are, with Kakashi trembling up against the wall, body so violated that he doesn’t know if he could stand and resume the day until all of his students were back into their parents' arms. He had Konan taking over his art class now with a special origami lesson—something that oddly fascinates his students that they don't notice their teacher is whisked away by the scary man with a scar._

_Obito and Konan have weirdly coordinated movements._

_Though, he knows that he couldn’t complain. He tormented Obito almost on hourly basis back then, and this is nothing to that._

_But the little broken thing in his chest hurt so much to know that there is only hatred that Obito reserves for him now._

_Kakashi is only able to haul his sore body up to return to his students when he heard their voices calling for him. He fixes his clothes as much as he could, pulling the sleeves of his shirt down to his wrists to cover the new bruises that Obito left on him before he staggers out of the closet._

_That is when he sees Obito and Konan at the secluded corner of the corridor._

_His chest hurt._

_It is painful to watch the one he loves in the arms of another._

_But then again, he deserves it._

_He did this to Obito. He took Rin from Obito. He forced Obito to watch in the background, knowing that it broke his first love’s heart to pieces upon witnessing all the affection that Rin showered him with._

_Now he knows how painful it is to have his heart shattered so ruthlessly by the one that he loves._

_Obito is too distracted kissing Konan to even spare a glance in his direction._

_Kakashi envies it. He envies the way Obito’s mangled lips slants over Konan’s painted ones. He envies the passion that so visibly shown from the couple’s kiss. He envies the way Obito’s arms hold onto Konan like she is his centre of the world. He envies the little groans that slip out of Obito’s throat—the groans that he hopes are caused by him instead of the woman that is thoroughly devouring Obito’s lips._

_But who is he kidding?_

_Obito hates him to the core._

_And Kakashi knows he fully deserved it._

* * *

 

Naori almost yelled at Madara when her ex-husband called her to inform about their son’s _jump_.

It was a bad tasteless joke. It wasn’t even funny. She may not be a proper mother—considering that she has no interest in children and how they were made in general—but she genuinely adored her sons and this news almost stopped her heart right on the spot.

She didn’t spend all those days, hunched up conspiringly in his office to plot her pregnancy, all the while resisting the urge to traumatise the Uchiha elders who have made this so difficult for them just to have him pulled this stupid joke seventeen years later.

She resisted the urge to strangle those elders for Madara’s sake. Naori thought she deserved an award for that alone.

The things she did for a dear friend. Ugh.

It would have been so much easier if the elders allowed Naori and Madara to make babies using the artificial way. He was gay and she has no interest in sex so an IVF was the most ideal to provide an heir for his lineage, but nooo, the asshole elders demanded everything to be done in the most traditional way.

Naori has never bothered to keep track of her ovulation cycle—considering that she would not be having sex anyway—but the elders pushed this inconvenience onto her. Bless her dear friend-slash-husband that he was willing to help her keeping track of her cycle so that they could procreate at one try. They had everything perfectly arranged, spending hours conspiring together in his office under the disguise of romantic snogging—which that thought was, like, uh ew to her and an incredibly awkward image to him—but their plan thankfully worked, and she ended up pregnant with her boys with just one try.

Bless Izuna for that wine choice that made neither of them remembered the obviously not preferred sex.

They filed a divorce once the boys weaned, but remained close friends just like before their marriage.

And as decided beforehand, she left her boys to be raised by her ex-husband, knowing that among the two of them, Madara was the one with the most parental instinct and have more experience with children. Plus, Naori loved her role as the boys’ crazy aunt that spoiled the hell out of them, all the while whispering evil plans for the children to play matchmaker for Madara and his decades-long crush.

Tobirama was already attached to the boys anyway, so an upgrade from godfather to stepfather would have been wonderful to both her sons and her ex-husband.

(And Hashirama would finally stop whining to everyone that his little brother stole the ‘godfather’ title from him. God, Naori always wondered why Mito married that whiny overgrown child.)

In short, Naori was not a proper mother to her boys, but her love towards them was genuine. She didn't regret birthing them to this world.

To Madara, their boys were his life, his purpose—the centre of his world.

To Naori, their boys were the unexpected little joys of her life.

Therefore, to have Madara calling her and informed her with a flat blank voice that her son attempted suicide was definitely not okay.

“I’m going to castrate you, Madara,” she growled to the phone. “This is not funny. I don’t like it.”

“Naori.”

It was that broken voice that froze Naori into utter denial.

No.

 _No_.

She admitted that she was too busy to visit Obito in Konoha since last Christmas. She knew that she has drifted apart from her youngest son ever since she has to move to Ame five years ago, but surely Obito wouldn’t feel abandoned enough to _commit suicide_ , right? He knew why she has to move so far away—heck, he was the one who suggested it in the first place, presenting the full research of that facility to both her and Madara. Plus, Naori called as frequent as she could—not often, but acceptable to let him know that she still remembered and loved him. 

In addition, Obito has always been closer to Madara anyway, so surely, he wouldn’t—

"He  _jumped,_ Naori."

Something inside her broke.

_No no no no no my little boy._

“Naori, calm down,” Madara’s voice sounded far-fetched to her ears. “Can you breathe for me, dear? Inhale deeply.”

Naori snapped out of her internal panic, only now realising that she has been hyperventilating and was swaying dangerously on her standing spot. She staggered to collapse onto the couch, body trembling as the unyielding persona of a steel-spine queen of the court shattered to pieces, leaving the trembling form of a distraught mother to curl up on the couch.

“Madara,” she croaked, sounding like a mirror to his broken voice. “How? Why?”

When he spoke, it was no longer the voice of a broken father that was talking to her. It was the voice of a man on a mission—the voice of the man that was about to raise hell for the treasure that was taken from him.

“Fugaku is working on it,” he informed her, voice dripping with cold fury. “He is trying to get Kushina into the team as a consultant.”

That sent a sense of dread down her spine.

Not only that her former brother-in-law—who was the Chief Police of Konoha—was involved, they also were trying to get Uzumaki Kushina on the team.

Kushina was specialised in handling sexual assault victims.

“Madara,” she whispered, completely horrified. “Is Obi—?”

“Tobirama pointed out _things_ and suggested we looked into it,” he hissed, voice strained with what that Naori knew as anger and regret. “I consented for the exam. It was positive.”

The phone fell onto her lap as dread washed her body cold.

 _No_.

 

* * *

_“You’re a menace.”_

_He rolls his eyes, shrugging off his jacket only to fling it onto the back seat before he slumps against his seat, rubbing his mouth furiously with the back of his hand. Konan quirks an amused smile, lowering the window to smile and wave at the giggling children before shifting her gaze to meet the dazed dark eyes of the silver-haired kindergarten teacher._

_It has been six months after that reunion, and Kakashi looks so close to a zombie rather than a human now._

_Not that she is going to fault him for that. Her dear fiancé is never known for kindness and mercy after all, thus, it makes sense that after being violated so frequently, the exhaustion and pain must have taken a toll on the young teacher._

_Kakashi deserves every single one of it, though._

_“Ugh.”_

_Konan holds back a giggle. “It’s not a revenge if you suffer too,” she comments._

_“I hate it,” he complains, still furiously rubbing on his lips. He sticks out his tongue then, gaze darting low to stare at it in disgust. “I hate it.”_

_“What is the problem?” Konan hums, not even looking at him as she keeps her eyes on the road. “You have slept with men before. Plus, Hatake is not an ugly one either.”_

_He stiffens, movements are almost mechanical when he reaches for the plastic bottle. Konan immediately pulls over to the side of the deserted road the moment he starts gargling, shoving him out of the car before he could even spit out of the window._

_“Barbarian,” she crinkles her nose, brows furrowing when he gargles again. “What is it about Hatake that you acted like you just kissed a corpse?”_

_“Done that,” he snorts and Konan smiles fondly at the hilarious memory of their first date at the morgue. “It doesn’t even come close,” he straightens up, pouting adorably at her._

_Konan rolls her eyes. She knows where this conversation is going._

_“And don’t think that I have forgotten that you tricked me to kiss that corpse, asshole.”_

_Yep. There it is. The decade-worth saltiness of her dear fiancé._

_Boy, he could definitely hold a grudge._

_“It was a dare, honey,” she smiles, leaning against the hood. “You should’ve chosen truth if fun dares terrify you.”_

_"You and I have a different understanding of ‘fun'," he grumbles, stalking around the car to stand in front of her._

_"I think we have a pretty similar definition of ‘fun'," she responds, body relaxing even further when normal people would have cowered if they are cornered like this. "So?" she smiles, nuzzling her nose to his throat when he plants his palms on the hood, successfully trapping her body between his arms. "What's so bad about kissing Hatake?"_

_He leans down to brush their lips together._

_“He tastes like Obi’s pain,” he murmurs, lips dragging over hers—slow, taunting and forever challenging. “I hate it.”_

_Konan answers that challenge, claiming his willing lips in a fierce kiss, one hand fisting in his collar, popping a few buttons open to reveal the contrasting sides of his battered scarred body. Konan slips her hands inside his untucked shirt, tracing every ridge of muscles and scars with awed thirst._

_He is so beautiful. So twistedly and beautifully broken._

_She loves it._

_“The window is tinted,” she purrs heatedly against his lips, tongue darting out to taste the mangled outline of his lips. “Want me to erase Hatake’s presence from you?”_

_The responding answer is close to a moan._

_“Yessss.”_

_It isn’t that hard to manhandle him into the backseat when he doesn't bother to put up a fight._

 

* * *

 

Madara was furious.

Furious was an understatement, in fact. He was beyond livid.

“Fugaku.”

And it seemed like his ex-wife was feeling the same too.

Naori was the cool-headed one among the two of them. If she was pissed enough to use that ice-cold voice, it was sure as hell was not Madara being an overdramatic angry bastard.

“Naori-san. Aniki,” Fugaku barely hid his wince, gaze lowered meekly under the livid glare of his brother-in-law. “We couldn’t find anything. There is no trace at all—”

Madara lunged, grabbing his brother-in-law by the collar and yanked Fugaku closer. Madara looked like a mad beast, which horribly made sense considering that the man had not been resting for the past week unless either one of Izuna, Tobirama or Naori had to physically knock him unconscious. His long black mane raised slightly like angry hackles, and as poetic as this may sound, the terrified Fugaku would later swear that he saw red flickered in Madara’s eyes.

Uchiha Madara was livid.

Then, there was a hand on his shoulder, grounding him in place while there was another that caught his wrist before he could deliver a harsh blow to Fugaku's face.

“Madara.”

Naori and Tobirama warned him with a similar cool-headed tone.

“How,” Madara spat through gritted teeth, body shaking in pure rage. “How the hell you’re able to misplace a whole box of evidence?!”

“They are stolen—”

“FROM THE STATION?!” Madara roared, thrashing in the combined hold of Tobirama’s and Naori’s arms. “You incompetent—!”

One swift move to the back of his neck and Madara fell into silence, eyes rolling to the back of his skull and he fell unconscious in Tobirama’s arms.

“That…,” Naori huffed, exhaling a relieved breath, “…is a good thinking that would put you into trouble with him later.”

"Sleep deprivation and stress never resulted in a good decision," Tobirama winced, shifting Madara in his arms until he could properly support the unconscious man in his arms. "But it is curious," he murmured, shifting his ruby gaze to Fugaku. "How exactly someone managed to break into _Konoha’s Police Department_ and stole all evidence related to Obito's case?"

Fugaku winced.

"We have no idea," he admitted, still so baffled with everything. "There are no signs of breaking in. The CCTV works perfectly. No officers see anything suspicious. It was like the evidence all vanished into thin air."

Tobirama cocked an elegant silver brow, looking flatly unamused. Beside him, Naori narrowed her eyes, lips curling in a savage grimace.

Fugaku has never felt so vulnerable.

Now that he thought of it, Mikoto was going to kill him too.

This was her nephew on the line—one half of her eldest brother’s life and joy—and god knows how much Mikoto loved her elder brothers and her nephews. She was the youngest among the sibling trio of the Uchiha main family, the only girl in a sibling of three, and was the princess to her brothers. She considered her brother’s kids as her own, and Fugaku knew that she would flip at this.

Mikoto demanded justice for Obito. She wanted to have her hands around the person who has tormented their nephew. She wanted to know who was the bastard that drove Obito to suicide. She wanted to return the abuse that Obito has suffered to the tormentor by her own hands— _in tenfolds_.

But the evidence was all stolen right under Fugaku's nose before they could even attempt to discover anything.

Thus, it would be impossible to seek justice for Obito now.

Not when every single evidence they have gathered from his broken body vanished into thin air. Even the testimonies and reports from the questioning and interviews they have conducted among Obito’s peers were not safe from the thief.

Everything was gone.

Just like Obito.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now, anyone has doubts about Obito? 
> 
> And so many of you wants a happy ending that I am considering to write alternate endings. Maybe. Probably will. Probably not.


	5. Twist and Truths

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not beta-ed. And I think people is gonna be mad at how this chapter goes.

_“How long you’re going to toy with him?”_

_There is a kiss on his shoulders, and he exhales, relishing on the feeling of those plush soft lips that always send shivers down his spine every time they caress his skin. He slumps, moulding his back to her soft chest, slouching a bit so that she can rest her chin on his shoulders without having to be on her toes. She hums happily, slender arms snake around his sides to clasp at his front, cradling him closer into her embrace._

_“Tobi?”_

_He exhales again, fixing his gaze on the wall._

_“9 months,” he murmurs, tilting his face to the side to kiss her cheek. “That’s how long Obi has suffered.”_

_She chuckles. “Three more months?” she questions, shifting her angle to catch his mangled lips. “I doubt Hatake would last that long.”_

_“He will.”_

_Konan huffs, lips trailing to nip on his ears. “And how would you end him?”_

_Tobi grins._

_“The exact way he ends Obito.”_

 

* * *

 

Konan first met Tobi in a medical facility.

She was just a trainee nurse back then—so young and innocent—when she quite literally walked into her eventual fiancé. She was so exhausted after a tiring night shift and was practically dragging her body by the sheer determination of her refusal to sleep on the cold floor when she was jolted awake from her exhaustion as she rammed onto someone’s hard body and was immediately showered with hot coffee.

Konan has yelped back then (something that she would never admit now) and flailed around to bat the hot liquid from her body when she tripped on her own feet.

She would’ve given herself a concussion if not because of the strong arm that circled her waist and kept her from falling.

(She fell in love instead.)

(Not that she was ever going to admit that.)

Cliché as it was, it was attraction at the first sight.

Never in her life would she expect that she would end up falling for a much younger man. He was just sixteen to her twenty-three back then—not yet legal himself—but Tobi exuded a strange kind of confidence and vibe that allured her straight into his arms. Despite being dressed in the ugly hospital garb, the boy prowled the corridors like a stalking predator, mangled lips never failed from curling into his trademark smirk that both terrify the doctors and enchant the young nurses.

There weren’t many interesting patients in this secluded facility, thus Konan spent the first few months after the fateful meeting by spending her free time around this strange boy.

He didn’t talk much, as his response to any questions was mostly a smirk and a stare. Spending time with him was basically signing yourself up for unnerving eerie silence instead.

You know, the kind of silence that made you wonder if his brain was plotting and coming up with ways to murder you in your sleep.

Yeah. That kind of unnerving silence.

This kid is creepy.

Konan _loves_ it.

Tobi spent most of his times furiously sketching on his drawing pad—lines of red and black formed morbid sketches that made Konan’s eyes sparkled in fascination as her lips curled in awe—and when he wasn’t freaking other staffs out with his morbid sketches, he would draw his own face.

Konan used to wonder if this was what he imagined he would look like without the burn scars that marred half of his face.

The sketches of his own face were always so handsome and perfect. There was no scar and the dark eyes seemed to sparkle even in the black and white graphite sketches. His self-portraits were always smiling, displaying a bright boyish grin that didn’t fit in with the twisted boy that she has learnt to adore.

When she asked about it, he simply gave her a playful wink and his trademark smirk before retreating into his silence again.

Knowing that he wouldn’t reveal anything more, Konan kept the question to herself and resumed watching him in silence.

It wasn't until his seventeenth birthday that Konan finally realised that Tobi wasn't drawing his own face.

 

* * *

  

“Most people avoid me, you know?”

Konan blinked, head jerking slightly as she was snapped from her focused attention on his sketching hands to look at his marred face. He was smiling this time—not the tilted amused smirk that unnerved his doctors, but a real genuine smile that carried a hint of the unmarred self-portraits that filled a good half of his sketchpad. His face softened, smoothing out the permanent scowl of his mangled lips.

It was kinda cute, to be honest.

“I’m not most people,” she responded despite her initial surprise, not wanting to lose any chance for a conversation when he finally opened up to her after two months spent sitting in utter silence. “And I like watching people draw.”

“Not an artist yourself?” he hummed, returning to his shading on the brightly smiling self-portrait.

“If stick people can be considered as art, I’m a pro,” she smiled tentatively, reaching out for the paper flower in her hair and offered it to him. “I’m better at origami anyway.”

Tobi gave her that tilted amused smile again but accepted the offering of paper flower anyway.

Konan didn’t bat a lash when he randomly pulled out a needle that he was not supposed to have and pinned the paper flower to his ugly hospital shirt.

“You’re not supposed to have that,” she deadpanned.

She made no move to confiscate the item though.

“Then you need to stop smuggling them to me,” he retorted, twirling a scalpel that was previously in her pocket.

(She wasn't supposed to have that with her either.)

Konan simply smiled.

That was the start of their relationship.

 

* * *

 

_Kakashi wonders what is his position in this twisted relationship._

_It isn’t an affair, because Obito is not cheating on Konan._

_The blue-haired woman is perfectly aware of what her fiancé has been doing to Kakashi in their own bedroom._

_Some nights, Konan would return from her work when Kakashi had his wrists trapped in Obito’s grip, his thighs quaking between the Uchiha’s hips as he is practically split in half. The woman does not even bat a lash when she enters the room and sees her fiancé on the bed with another person._   _Instead, Konan would lean over to peck Obito’s flushed cheek, runs a sharp painted finger over Kakashi’s trembling jaw before she tosses her earrings onto the dresser and pads towards the joint bathroom to have her bath._

_By the time she is done, Obito would already be waiting for her by the bathroom door to capture her into an embrace and a passionate kiss while Kakashi is left alone on the bed to pick his broken body up._

_Not a glance would be spared in Kakashi’s direction the moment Obito starts paying attention to Konan._

_It hurts._

_Kakashi usually wouldn’t last any longer than the couple’s kiss before his_   _chest would start to twist in discomfort._

_He had to leave the room or else his shattered heart would break even more._

_He never gets to sleep next to Obito. Not once in these seven months they are in this twisted relationship. Not once Obito would embrace his used body and invite him to share the bed for the rest of the night._

_Kakashi would always be alone, having only the bruises and the traces of lube inside him to remind him that he had some sort of connection with Obito before._

_If he had passed out mid-sex, he would wake up outside of the room, being dumped onto the couch with a thin sheet haphazardly thrown over his naked bruised body._

_Kakashi usually doesn’t wait for either Obito or Konan to wake up._

_He doesn’t think his heart could stand witnessing their love from the sidelines._

_But today, Kakashi doesn’t wake up alone and cold on the couch._

_He wakes to an unfamiliar weight thrown over his shoulders, hot calm breath at the back of his neck and Konan's amused glance being directed in his direction. Kakashi doesn't dare to move—worried that if he does, then Obito would wake up and this moment would end—though his breath does hitch in a pleasant surprise when Obito shifts and pulls him closer into that strong embrace._

_Warm. Obito is so warm._

_Kakashi wants to drown in this embrace. He wants the time to freeze so that he could remain longer in this warmth._

_Konan gives him a cheerful grin—way too cheerful especially when one would consider that the sun is not even up yet—and tips her head towards her fiancé, hands busy rummaging through her handbag, adding more things inside as she wanders around the room._

_“He had a relapse yesterday,” she says, reaching into one of the closets to take out a pair of heels. “Make sure he takes his pills when he wakes, okay?”_

_Relapse._

_Kakashi so desperately wants to ask, genuinely worried about Obito's health. He is aware that Obito might suffer for some kind of personality disorder—an assumption that he based on the Uchiha’s tendency to sometimes slip into a completely different behaviour that is so childish it is actually creepy._

_Some other times, Obito would freeze in a disoriented trance before his behaviour suddenly shifts to a violent one._

_He wants to ask. He really does. Is this the only side-effect after his jump from the seventh floor? Or are there more lingering effects that influence Obito’s health and behaviour? How does Obito even get the burn scar? Does he do that to himself during one of his personality shifts?_

_Kakashi has noticed that Obito’s childish personality has a reckless tendency that is borderline dangerous._

_Kakashi is genuinely worried._

_But he doesn't ask, wary that he might be crossing any boundaries by prying way too much into the misfortune that he had caused. Obito was broken because of him._

_He has no right to pry._

_Though, Kakashi couldn't help but shivers when Konan leans over him to peck Obito’s lips before giving the same kiss to his own cheek._

_Konan then leaves with a pleased happy hum—the door clicks shut behind her._

_Alone now with the love of his life, Kakashi shifts until he is tucked safely against Obito’s bare chest. He marvels upon the steady heartbeats, grateful that Obito had survived that attempt before he carefully reaches up to brush Obito’s bangs away, pale fingertips tracing the burn scar with loving care. It takes him a full minute of contemplating and gathering his courage before he tentatively leans close to plant a kiss over Obito’s forehead._

_He loves Obito._

_He really, really loves this man._

_But, Obito hates him._

* * *

 

Madara refused to acknowledge the long flat beep.

He refused to acknowledge it, despite the gentle push from the nurses as they ushered the three of them aside while the doctors rushed to resuscitate his dying son. Madara felt oddly disconnected from the scene, feeling like he was watching through a glass instead. Beside him, tucked by his right side, Naori made a soft choking noise, clutching his arm with a deadly grip.

“ _Obito_.”

That was Naori’s voice—his ex-wife who owned figurative spine of steel and could not be scared so easily—and that was her voice that mouthed their son’s name in a broken horrified whisper.

It was a torture.

He was practically one of the most powerful men in the Elemental Nations. He has so many people grovelled by his feet in order to win his favour. He possessed the literal authority over a good portion of the nation—being the patriarch of the Uchiha family, which was one of the prominent families whose ancestry traced back all the way to the royalties and nobles of Fire Country back in the old dynasties.

And yet he was so uselessly helpless now.

He couldn’t do anything now but hold his family close to his chest.

He couldn’t do anything.

Nothing.

Madara’s heart shattered when the doctors retreated away from the cot with a solemn look on their faces.

The long beeping sound didn’t change. 

 

* * *

 

_Reaching the end of the eighth month since the reunion and Kakashi starts to think that perhaps there is still hope for him and Obito._

_Obito is nicer to him now._

_The sex is still rough and dirty—successfully making Kakashi feeling ashamed and used after it ends—but there is a morbid gentleness that comes with it. Obito has started paying attention to the aftercare. He now tends to Kakashi’s abused body instead of leaving Kakashi to pick himself up on his own. There are more soft kisses and hugs than the previous months._

_The change gives Kakashi a sense of deja vu, reminding him of the short months after he has completely broken Obito and treats the older boy this exact same way—the endless cycle of abuse and care._

_He isn’t proud of that memory—no, not anymore—but he wishes for a different ending now._

_Perhaps there is a happy ending for their twisted relationship._

_It is unhealthy. He knows that this kind of relationship is unhealthy._

_But he deserves it, right?_

_He broke Obito all those years ago, forcing the older boy into submitting to his obsessive passion. He deluded himself that he was doing the best to keep his love by his side—and if Obito deems that it is necessary for Kakashi to have a taste of his own medicine, how would Kakashi even say no to that?_

_He deserves everything._

_Perhaps if he survives through this, things could be better for both of them. Perhaps if he let Obito burn him with this decade-worth anger until the fire simmers to flickering husk of memories, there might be something salvageable in their relationship after this._

_Perhaps there is a chance of forgiveness._

_Perhaps they could become proper friends this time._

_Obito is already nicer to him nowadays. Kakashi often wakes in Obito’s arms, warm and tangled in the soft sheets of Obito’s bed instead of alone and cold on the couch, as Konan seemingly disappears every night for what she claims as ‘work’._

_Kakashi feels bad that he secretly wishes that the couple had a fight._

_Konan is actually a very nice woman. She doesn't deserve to be the victim of his selfish wish._

_That guilty thought is the one that driven him to slide out of Obito’s embrace, lips quirking to a smile when the love of his life frowns at the loss of warmth._

_It really feels like the sun finally shines on him._

_Kakashi leans close to kiss Obito’s forehead._

_God, he loves this man so much._

_But he knows that his love would forever be one-sided._

_He knows that he shouldn’t hope for anything more, because between him and Konan, Kakashi knows that Konan is the more superior choice. Obito is genuinely happy with Konan—a fact so painfully obvious from the way they interact with one another—and Kakashi doesn’t want to butt in between that, despite the sheer twistedness of their relationship that is happening ever since that reunion._

_Thus, with the mindset of wanting to make peace with the woman, Kakashi limps out of the bed and heads straight to the kitchen. The sun is not up yet, so he probably has about half an hour before Konan returns from her work._

_Enough time to help her tidy up the apartment and prepare some breakfast for all three of them._

_He bents down to pick up the discarded clothes along the hallway, body moving on pure autopilot when something small drops from Obito’s discarded pants and rolls into the guest’s bedroom through the little gap of the door._

_Kakashi isn’t even thinking when he opens the door to retrieve the item._

_He freezes the moment he steps inside._

 

* * *

 

Konan has seen different kind of expressions on her boyfriend’s face.

There was the usual amused smirk and intense stare—an unnerving expression of confidence and authority that was aimed to render everyone nervous and willingly submitted to his whims. There was also the rare soft expression that he only shown in privates and only to selected few—the one where his mismatched eyes softened, and his smile was gentle and loving without any trace of malice. Konan has seen him angry before—the vicious seething anger that was displayed in his malicious grin and blazing eyes—and she only saw that happened once when a foolish guy got a little bit grabby and forceful on her drunk ass that one time she snuck Tobi into a club.

Some people just didn’t understand that ‘ _my boyfriend will maim you_ ’ was an actual understatement when it slips out of her mouth.

She also has seen him descended into full lustful insanity before—no, not the natural lust to fulfil the carnal needs of a human, but a more bestial lust for blood—the nature that his maternal grandmother had nurtured and trained deep down in the Ootsutsuki’s underground bunker.

Hoo boy, wasn’t that such a wonderful family background? A famous lawyer as a mother, a fierce honest businessman as a father, a whole paternal family that predominantly working in law enforcement and suddenly his maternal grandmother was the leader of the underworld. Family reunion must have been awkward for the Uchiha-Ootsutsuki family.

Regardless, Konan has seen lots of different emotions on Tobi’s face.

But she has never seen him so lost before.

She had thought that he wasn’t capable to feel grief at all.

Apparently, she thought wrong.

 

* * *

 

_Kakashi is stunned in horror._

_The room that he thought is the guest’s bedroom is nothing close to his assumption at all._

_It actually looks like something straight out of TV shows._

_Papers and pictures are on the walls like some morbid wallpapers—some are still fresh like it is recently pasted while some has shown discolouring due to the age they are left on the walls. Looking closer at one of the walls has revealed reports—police reports and testimonies—and all of which is eerily familiar to Kakashi._

_These are the reports from the interviews that he and his classmates went through after Obito’s suicide attempt._

_The rest of the papers are medical reports detailing the injuries that Kakashi is all too familiar with—the injuries that he had caused with his own hands. Pictures of bruises and wounds litter the whole section of the wall—some are at a normal range while others are close-ups that are zoomed down to the finest details, including the faint finger-shaped bruises necklacing someone’s neck._

_Obito’s neck, to be exact._

_Kakashi swallows upon seeing the secured evidence bags that are nailed onto the wall—all of which he knows would contain damning evidence against him._

_His gaze then slides across the wall, pausing only to gape when he finally makes out the things that filled the other wall._

_He almost retches._

_He does collapse onto his knees though, body trembling like a leave against harsh autumn breeze, clamping his mouth with one hand as he furiously tries to blink the tears away._

_He always had an uncomfortable feeling when his phone mysteriously disappeared right after Uchiha Izuna’s last visit to Konoha’s High._

_The whole wall is filled with reprints of the pictures he had taken to blackmail Obito throughout the months he has spent to torment that older boy. Damning pictures that were taken during each of their twisted sex back then—the pictures he shamelessly used to slake his lust when Uchiha Madara was in town and Obito was not available to fuck. The pictures he had threatened to spread around if Obito didn't submit to his whims. The pictures that showed Obito's naked battered used body and tearful pained face during the forced sex._

_Every single one of the pictures reflects the abuse he had put Obito through, printed so large and are displayed like a morbid art display._

_Kakashi trembles._

_Why would Obito do this?_

_Why would he put up the blatant evidence of the abuse he had gone through in a display like this?_

_Why?_

_Confused and horrified, Kakashi tightens his grip on the clothes that are still in his arms, only to be startled from his confusion when there is a light thud of Obito’s wallet falling out of the pants. The leather is flipped open and Kakashi finds his attention to be redirected from the damning pictures on the wall to the picture in the wallet._

_He freezes again._

_No._

_No._

_No._

_It is a small old photo. A photo so old that the edges are already yellowing to the age and show signs of fraying. Despite that, Obito’s frozen smile is cheerily bright, all teeth and beaming with his boyish charm—an immortal image of the teenage boy that has stolen Kakashi’s heart all those years ago—but that is not that has stunned Kakashi frozen._

_No, it is not Obito’s smile that has thrown him into an utter mindfuck._

_It is the tilted smirk of Obito’s copy that has frozen him into horrified silence. The copy had his arm draped around Obito’s shoulders—the deep maroon of Amegakure Boy’s Academy sleek blazer is a stark contrast against Konoha High’s more conservative beige vest and white shirt—and with their faces pressed so close together, cheek to cheek, similar mops of spiky midnight hair leaning against one another, it is d_ i _fficult to not see the uncanny similarities._

_Even with the burn scar that marred the copy’s face._

_Despite everything, they are perfectly identical._

_Kakashi couldn’t tear his gaze away from the small picture even when he hears the door creaks open and a warm presence breathing right against his ears._

_The words are said in a malicious purr, lips playfully nipping on his ears;_

_“Finally caught on, haven’t you?”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Friendly reminder that I'm not even being subtle about Tobi. This is not something that came out of nowhere. I have been using _plurals_ when referring to Madara's kids in the previous chapters. Konan never addressed Tobi as Obito and those two have been using half-truths all these time to deceive without lying.
> 
> (I'm surprised that none of you caught on on that despite how blatant I laid the plot in the previous chapters.)
> 
> And yeah. Tobi is a literal psycho and his grandmama Kaguya encourages that. Naori is actually Ootsutsuki Naori.
> 
> Konan is that one nurse who is secretly a sadist.
> 
> I should probably update the tag, cuz Konan and Tobi age difference.


	6. Hate and Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You're going to hate me. Kbye.

* * *

 

 _“_ Y _ou’re not Obito.”_

_Kakashi breathes out, almost sounding relieved despite the feeling of dread that pools in his gut._

_This is not Obito._

_He is relieved, because that would mean that his sweet Obito was not turned into these shattered angry fragments of hatred._

_He feels the dread, because if Tobi has gone to this extent for a revenge, that would mean that Obito is…_

_Dead._

_His first love is dead. Pushed to death by his own hands._

_Kakashi feels tears prick at his eyes._

_Tobi tilts his head, looking so contemplatively mocking as his mangled lips slowly curl into a smirk._ _“Took you long enough to notice,” he hums, voice a mocking drawl. “I almost consider tattooing it on my forehead.”_

_Kakashi watches, entranced with the way Tobi circles him like a predator toying with a stupid helpless prey. Everything about Tobi screams threat and hatred—from the burning rage in his cold eye, to the resentful curl of his lips, all the way to the trembles of his hands._

_Tobi's hands curl into fists, his muscles flex in the way that seems like he wants to reach out and crush Kakashi's neck in his hands._

_That is the moment Kakashi realises how oblivious he had been._

_Obito was never so big on working out, even before the incident._

_He was that one member of the class who kept looking for excuses to skip PE class. He also that one classmate who purposely volunteered as a committee during school sport’s day because all committee members were excluded from the compulsory sports events. The only reason Obito was in Judo club was because no one has the hope against Gai, who was the epitome example of an unstoppable force._

_Really. Kakashi should have noticed._

_Logically, the jump must have caused a lasting effect on Obito’s body._

_The fact that Tobi is impossibly fit should've rung the alarm bells in Kakashi's head, warning him that something is off long before this realisation is shoved to his face._

_What chances are there that someone who just recovered from a fall from the **seventh floor** to have the kind of body that Tobi has?_

_It is slim to none._

_Stupid. So very stupid._

_“Did he—?” Kakashi chokes, mind reeling back to the sweet boy he loves a decade ago, completely regretting everything._

**_Did he suffer?_ **

_Tobi snorts, his grin is twisted and unhinged._

_"What do you think?"_

_Each word of that vicious sneer drips with anger and resentment._

_Kakashi gasps, wincing as ruthless fingers curl in his hair and tug his head back. The scarred face of the man in front of him is cold, yet the mismatched eyes burn in seething anger, making Tobi looks positively murderous. The fingers in his hair tighten, and Kakashi winces at the pain but does not fight back._

_“He jumped from the seventh floor, Hatake,” the mockery of Uchiha Obito hisses._

_The fingers in Kakashi’s hair tightens, tugging upwards before Kakashi is practically thrown to the wall of those damning pictures. He winces, but does not make any noises, keeping his eyes fixed on the angry glare of the man in front of him._

_“What the hell do you think happened to him?” Tobi growls, slamming Kakashi to the wall with one hand while the other curls around Kakashi's neck. “Huh, Hatake?”_

_Kakashi remains in silence, swallowing his voice, the tears keep dripping down his cheeks as Tobi growls his accusation;_

_“What do you think happened to my little brother?”_

_Kakashi swallows, tasting the bitterness of his own saliva down his throat._

_Tobi sneers._

_“He **died,**  Hatake.”_

* * *

 

Tobi never thought that he was capable of feeling so impossibly lost.

And terrified.

He was so worried and terrified.

He never felt these emotions before. Never before.

He was the heir of Ootsutsuki Kaguya.

He wasn’t supposed to have these emotions.

He wasn’t supposed to have stupid fear like this when he was destined to rule the underworld the moment his grandmother passed the mantle to him. He has vicious people at his beck and call. He manipulated and crawled his way up the hierarchy of the darker side of the society. He was supposed to be fearless and unmoving, not terrified and shaken like this.

This was a weakness.

A stupid weakness that would result in his fall should he let it grow—

—but that was his brother over there.

His brother, his younger twin—his literal other half separated in the womb—the only one who looked at him and smiled so lovingly when everyone else feared him. The one who he would die for.

Konan was the second most important thing after his own life.

Obito was far more important than his own life.

For that boy, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill. For that boy, he wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice the world. He wouldn’t hesitate to dirty his own hands with the blood of the innocents. He wouldn’t hesitate to defy the heavens. He wouldn't think twice to plunge himself into the flame and sink deeper into the depths of hell.

He wouldn’t hesitate to do  _anything_ for that boy _._

For Obito.

For that boy, Uchiha Tobi would give up his own life and soul without a second thought.

He would do anything as long as that boy—his beloved, precious twin—happy and  _alive_.

And that boy was dying.

Tobi has never felt so helpless.

It ached—this helplessness—and it rendered him with a strange feeling in his chest as the dread ate him from inside out. It was a feeling so foreign that for once in his seventeen and a half years of life, he willingly clung to his father’s arm, allowing the man to cradle him in an embrace while his mother reaches out to squeeze his hand in nervous pulses.

When the doctor retreated with a solemn shake of her head and the long flat beep didn’t change, Tobi felt cold.

Cold.

It was so cold.

He couldn’t feel anything.

He couldn't feel anything but the awful sensation of having half of his soul vanished into the oblivion.

He stopped thinking, mind blank as he moved on pure instinct—the urging need in his chest that screamed for him to hold his twin—as he squirmed out of his father’s stiff embrace and practically staggered towards the limp body on the cot. He side-stepped the frantic nurses, silencing them with a mere glare when they tried to stop his approach.

_Obito._

“Tobi—” Madara called, reaching out to pull his eldest into his embrace.

Tobi ignored him.

He slinked past the wary doctors, standing by his twin’s head with a blank expression that mirrored the emptiness of his heart.

_Obito._

Tobi fell onto his knees right there, mangled lips planting pleading desperate kisses all over the bandaged forehead, one hand cradling his twin’s jaw while his other hand held Obito’s limp one in a death grip.

_Obi Obi Obi Obi Obi Obi Obi Obi Obi_

“Come back.”

Madara halted upon hearing that soft broken plea, frozen with an outstretched hand hovering just millimetres from Tobi’s shoulders.

Tobi didn’t seem to notice.

“Obi,  _please_ ,” instead, the boy kept begging, voice raw and broken as he now was practically clinging to Obito’s body. “Come back.”

Madara didn’t have the heart to pull Tobi away.

No. Not when his reserved, cold-hearted son has bared his heart out like this.

This wasn't the monster that his former mother-in-law has nurtured.

This was a grieving boy who just lost his brother.

Madara retracted his hand and stood in silence, only moving to kiss Naori's temple when his ex-wife leant against his side.

Tobi kept on begging, his voice was a broken plea, begging for his brother to return to him as he clung to Obito’s body with sheer desperation and denial.

Then, a miracle happened.

There was a sudden jolt in the flat beep.

Obito spasm.

Tobi didn’t let go.

 

* * *

 

_For someone that used to be famed as a prodigious genius, Konan thinks that Kakashi is sort of stupid._

_Neither she nor Tobi has even bothered to lie. Sure, they keep dropping half-truths instead of being completely honest, but they have laid their cards so openly on the table, giving everyone a blatant clue of what that is going on._

_Yet, everyone is fooled._

_Including Kakashi._

_For a supposed genius, it is such a disappointment that Kakashi does not notice anything._

_Tobi has been pulling the strings for **years** , manipulating Kakashi’s life from the day Obito came back from death._

_Really, how could Kakashi not notice?_

 

* * *

 

“I’m very terrified of you.”

Konan couldn’t help but agreed to Hidan’s horror-stricken words.

Tobi snorted, not even removing his gaze from the table in front of him.

He has laid all of the liberated evidence onto the table, making mental inventories, silently plotting his next plan. Konan could practically see the cogs of his delightfully twisted brain spinning, knowing that whatever he had in plan for Hatake was never going to be simple.

After all, Tobi enjoyed playing with his food before he swallowed them whole.

You know, he was kinda that one messy kid who stabbed and tossed his food around before the mommy had to come and made sure he ate his food instead of butchering it to a pure mess.

Liberating this evidence from under his own uncle's nose was proof of how far he would go for revenge.

He could've done this all on his own—having more than capabilities to steal this evidence undetected—but he has summoned the gang anyway, using all of his resources to ensure that this case was closed before anyone could even get a whiff that Hatake was involved.

He wanted to take revenge into his own hands.

It was a team effort—an extremely easy team-bonding exercise at that—as Tobi has summoned his little gang of delinquents from the depths of the underground. He called for all members of Akatsuki to help him break into Konoha’s Police Department, despite Hidan and Sasori were in Taki and Suna respectively while Deidara was busy turning military bases to burning ruins and Kakuzu was somewhere harvesting fresh organs from the people that owed him but couldn't handle his interest charge.

This was overkill.

Honest to god, Tobi was the weird kid that probably ran around with a scissor whenever he played as ‘It’ during the hide and seek game just for the flair of drama in watching other kids screamed in horror.

(Later, much much later, when she was close enough to his family to be able to have high-tea with his maternal side of the family—all strained drama of daughter-vs-mother between Queen of Law vs Queen of Underworld included—did Konan finally knew that Tobi actually did that very thing back when he was a child, only barely evading mentally scarring his peers because Obito has stepped in and put a stop to that traumatising game.)

It wasn't even necessary to summon all of these dangerous people to break into a measly police department, but they all dropped everything that they were doing and answered Tobi's call in a heartbeat anyway, returning to their base in Ame like faithful dogs answering a master's call.

Drama. If Tobi dared to claim that the only thing that he inherited from Madara was his looks, Konan was going to flip him off. Izuna’s theatrics at the school the other day, Madara’s dramatic rage when he traumatised the school’s administration and Tobi’s overkill plot of revenge? The drama is part of the Uchiha’s genetics.

The drama ran in their blood.

“Zetsu,” Tobi called, mismatched eyes not even moving from staring at the phone’s screen, his face darkened for each time he scrolled down. “Deidara. Sasori.”

“Yeah, Tobi?” they all snapped to attention in an instant, responding in a heartbeat.

Konan winced.

Hatake Kakashi didn’t stand a chance.

 

* * *

 

_“I really want to kill you, Hatake.”_

_A soft whimper escapes the skinny throat in his grip and it is all too tempting—too temptingly easy—for Tobi to tighten his grip and crush Kakashi’s neck until life completely left this miserable creature beneath him._

_It would be too easy. Too awfully easy._

_Tobi wouldn’t be able to break Kakashi’s neck in this position, but hell, he could easily crush that windpipe long enough to end the last Hatake. Easy. This is way too temptingly easy._

_But he has been extremely patient for this past decade._

_He has plotted and watched. He sent his subordinates to pave Kakashi’s path in this very specific direction._

_He has waited far too long to reach this point._

_Killing Hatake Kakashi would be a mercy._

_And both hells and heavens know that Uchiha Tobi has no mercy left for this man._

 

* * *

 

“I found her.”

Tobi didn’t move despite the jolt of anticipation in his chest. Instead, he let his body turned completely boneless on the plush couch, head still resting on Konan’s thighs as her painted sharp nails made their ways through his hair. He rolled his eyes in Zetsu’s direction, giving a little nod as a sign for his subordinate to go on and was barely able to suppress a groan when his girlfriend’s sharp fingers massaged his scalp.

Zetsu rolled his eyes but didn’t comment on it.

“The good news is, Masato Hanako values money more than her son,” the green-haired man started. “So, we don’t have to resort to dirty tricks to get her cooperation.”

“The bad news?” Tobi grunted, nudging Konan’s palm with his nose when she stopped stroking his hair.

“The bad news is, Masato Hanako values money more than anything else,” Zetsu huffed, sounding both annoyed and amused at the same time. “She demanded payment if we want her to cooperate.”

Tobi snorted.

“Just pay her whatever that she wanted,” he waved dismissively, not even bothering to open his eyes. “I want Kakashi to be knocked off his high horse by his graduation.”

“Aye, boss.”

With that, Zetsu left the room.

The moment the door swung shut, Konan started to persistently nudge him off her lap and would only stop when Tobi has moved enough to allow her to climb up his sprawled body. After a few minutes of uncomfortable wriggling, they finally ended up in a comfortable position—Tobi was lying flat on the couch while Konan laid atop him, her nose nuzzled to the sharp angle of his jaw.

“Will you ever tell me what that was about?” she murmurs, lips soft and breath warm against his throat. “Who is Masato Hanako?”

“Kakashi’s mom,” he answered flatly.

Konan crinkled her nose. “You’re paying his mom to break him?”

“Her unfaithfulness drove Sakumo to suicide,” he grinned, tilting his head back to allow her lips more access to his skin. “And those few years she held custody over Kakashi? It wasn’t fun for that little mutt.”

“Oh?” Konan hummed, nosing the sensitive skin behind his ears. “She’s one of those horrible moms who used their kids for fame?”

“Being a prodigal genius is not always a good thing,” he chuckled, hands sliding down to rest on her ass. “Hatake never got over those years. It’s a constant sore spot in him.”

Konan gave him a flat stare.

“You’re gonna use her to poke that sore spot until it bleeds," she deadpanned.

"Bleeds?” Tobi gasped in mock horror, lips stretching to a grin even as the rest of his face twisted to an exaggerated hurt expression. “Honey, you hurt me with such low expectation.”

Shaking her head in amusement, Konan trailed kisses along his jaw and up his chin until she reached his parted lips.

“You’re a menace,” she commented, lips brushing over his, tauntingly inviting. “You’re one horrible menace.”

Tobi chuckled and pulled her down, kissing her breathless until she was flushed to the same shade of her painted nails, gasping against his lips as they parted. He nipped and tugged on her lower lips, voice dripping with cruel amusement when he whispered;

“It’s hardly the beginning, love.”

Konan rolled her eyes.

“Drama king.”

Tobi didn’t deny that one.

 

* * *

 

It didn’t take long for Kakashi to break.

Tobi didn’t bother to look into the files that Zetsu has mailed his way, having no interest in what Hanako has put Kakashi through in those two measly years she held custody over him before the child social service interfere and put Kakashi into the system. However, Tobi has to admit that he was deeply impressed that it didn’t even take Hanako more than two months to break Kakashi’s defiant spirit.

By the time graduation for all high-schoolers came, Kakashi has changed from an angry ball of angst and defiance to a quiet depressed loner. He moped and sulked in the corners, growing more and more distant from the rest of his classmates. He ate less and less until his health declined. His grades started to drop, and he started to nurture a habit of blocking the world away with books and earphones.

Needless to say, his friends drifted away, leaving the prodigal genius to his own devices.

Only a few of those ‘friends' persistently kept him company—Gai, Asuma and Rin—but Kakashi's own aloofness has kept them at bay without Tobi having to launch another interference.

Thus, Tobi utilised Hanako for a few more months, paying her to continue harassing her son until Kakashi has moved in with his college mates and Asuma has ended up threatening to report Hanako and get a restraining order against her.

It was too late by then.

Kakashi’s spirit was broken. He grew more detached and emotionally unstable, bursting to unpredictable episodes of angry outburst or depressive grief that he hid so well behind the four walls of his room.

Was there some speck of pity in Tobi’s heart as he watched those pathetic footages?

There was.

But he squashed them the moment they bud. Kakashi didn’t need pity. He didn’t  _deserve_ pity. Kakashi didn't have any mercy or pity for Obito throughout those months of abuse.

So, Tobi didn’t spare any for him.

Instead, he moved on, ruthless and merciless—for Obito.

When he couldn’t use Hanako anymore, Tobi sent Sasori and Deidara out to ruin whatever that was left of support system that Kakashi has.

His friends. His girlfriend. His classmates.

It wasn’t hard to drive them away in this era of technology.

Sasori could cause a car accident with just a few strokes over his phone’s keypad. He could make anyone feel unsafe with a few viruses sent to their personal techs. He could cause doubts and insecurities with just a minor hacking. On the other hand, Deidara took over the physical work that Sasori refused to do, as they worked together to cut off whatever remnants of supportive ties that Kakashi has.

Isolating Kakashi couldn’t even be any easier.

Random unexplained accidents around the campus. Car crash. Dangerously malfunctioning technologies. Some old-school’s breaking and entering. A little rumour spread here and there.

It wasn’t long before hushed words spread out that Kakashi was the harbinger of bad luck. That anyone that was close to him would end up with a bad accident. His housemates didn’t feel safe in their house, having faced multiple occurrences of their house being broken in and their privacy being intruded.

It went so far that only Asuma and Gai wanted to befriend Kakashi.

Even then, they couldn’t stand living in the same house as him—having this discomfort that they were always being watched.

By the time Kakashi switched majors from neurology to early education, he has drifted so far from his former schoolmates. His natural anti-social behaviour was helping with his own isolation, as he grew more and more withdrawn from society, only having his girlfriend as his only social contact.

By the time he broke up with Rin, Kakashi was completely alone.

And Tobi waited—patient like an unmoving mountain yet deadly as a vicious snake—bidding for his time to step in.

 

* * *

 

_“Why?”_

_Tobi tilts his head, curious and questioning. His malice is toned down by curiousity when Kakashi meets his gaze with an oddly stubborn glaze in his teary eyes._

_“Revenge,” he responds matter-of-factly._

_What else could be his motive if not revenge?_

_“Not that,” Kakashi chokes, voice weak and hoarse as his hands claw on the one that curls around his bruised throat. “Why do you steal the evidence? You could have destroyed me if you let the police arrest me.”_

_Tobi almost burst out laughing._

_That. That was the most hilarious thing he has ever heard. Joke of the year._

_What a joke._

_Kakashi just turned sixteen when Obito jumped. They were in high school when that incident happened. Kakashi was **sixteen** back then—a freshman being advanced into senior class—and the law couldn’t do much because of that. He was underage when he abused and tormented Obito. _

_If Tobi let his more law-abiding side of the family to deal with Kakashi, the worst that could happen to him was a dark mark in his records and a couple of years in juvie._

_That was hardly a punishment._

_It wasn’t enough to compensate what Obito has gone through._

_It wasn’t enough._

_Before Tobi could respond however, Kakashi spasms in painful coughs, wheezing so pitifully as he tries to breathe against the force of Tobi's grip on his neck._

_Tobi removes his hand and watches that pitiful sight with cold eyes. There is a faint hand-shaped bruise circling Kakashi's neck—such familiar sight that brings out the memories of similar bruises that he saw around Obito's neck all those years ago, when he spent all of his unoccupied time by the lonely cot of his comatose twin._

_Tobi instantly sees red._

_He lusts to kill this man._

_But he resists that needs. Murder is not what he is aiming for._

_Murder is not what he is aiming for._

_He wants Kakashi to **suffer**._

_Thus, Tobi resists that lust for blood. He grits his teeth and clenches his fists, mismatched eyes looking straight ahead as he turns on his heels and marches out, determined to leave before he truly kills Kakashi._

_He only stops by the door to drop his last words._

_“He will never forgive you, Hatake.”_

_Behind him, Kakashi chokes a hitched whimper._

_Tobi slams the door shut, silencing that pitiful underserving noise once and for all._

 

* * *

 

“Hey, Tobi?”

Tobi stopped stabbing the ruined pile of snow, looking up from the once cute snowman that their father has painstakingly built for them, still absent-mindedly stabbing the stick in his hand in the pile of snow even as he kept his gaze on his twin.

Obito grinned at him—wide and adorable, something that Tobi could never mimic despite them sharing the same face—and before Tobi knew it, his twin has waddled past the thick pile of snow, pulling him into a hug in matters of seconds.

Like magic, something inside him snapped loose, causing him to melt into his twin’s arms, allowing him to be engulfed in that warmth. It felt  _right_. Obito’s embrace felt  _right_ , like it was made for Tobi alone. It wasn’t like the strong bear hug from their father, because Obito’s arms were small and skinny—slightly smaller than every other average five-years-old—but they curved around Tobi’s shoulders just  _right_. It wasn’t like the gentle warmth of their godfather, because Obito was more affectionate and unreserved in his love as compared to Tobirama,  and now he was practically curling and clinging to Tobi like a hot furnace.

A perfect fit. A perfect hug.

Warmth and love that was made for Tobi alone.

So he let go of the stick to hold his twin’s arms, letting his body relaxed against Obito’s chest, finding himself to quirk a tiny smile when Obito giggled and clung even closer to him—an unspoken request for a piggyback across the yard into the warmth of  _home._

Not that Tobi wasn’t already home.

He was at  _home_ , here, warm and loved in his twin’s embrace.

“Hmm?” he eventually hummed a response, shifting so that he could get an angle to meet Obito’s gaze.

There was a loud smack as Obito’s lips met his cheek, followed by a devious giggle.

“I love you.”

This time, Tobi quirked a genuine beaming smile.

_I love you too._

 

* * *

 

_“I love you.”_

_The room falls into silence._

_Madara whips his head around so fast and so dangerously that Tobi almost wants to see his old man starring in some exorcist’s horror movie. Really. That head-turn is straight-up a legit horror movie stuff it is a surprise the old man doesn't sprain his neck._

_Sitting aross him, Tobirama is no better. His ruby eyes widen behind bright orange bangs, his jaw slacks open as his coffee cup hangs suspended in the air with the little sips of its content spilling onto his lap. Apparently, Tobi's declaration has caught him by surprise mid-drinking._

_Izuna and Naori are staring at Tobi from across the room, unblinking and looking genuinely horror-stricken. They too, are caught mid-action—neither of them looks like they notice the ‘Game Over' screen flashing on the flat screen. Being seated in the middle of his kids have made Izuna's horrified stare even more hilarious, as those teens simply grin at Tobi upon his sudden declaration—showing a completely different reaction than their stunned father._

_Not that Tobi would heed them any mind._

_He has always been—and forever will be— estranged and distant from this side of the family._

_So he fixes his gaze on Kisame instead—the neutral person in this room that **knows** , the one that they welcomed into the family and has not shown any form of wariness against Tobi—and it takes an effort to not shift his gaze slightly lower to the left to the actual person that his declaration is intended to._

_It is tempting to look, but he has never said anything all these years and after everything that happened—_

_It is easier to meet Kisame’s gaze instead._

_Behind him, he could hear Konan’s muffled giggles. The menace of a woman he somehow has fallen in love with is having too much fun at the apparent heart-attack he just gave to his whole family._

_Kisame grins at him, flashing his sharp-filed teeth that should've seemed threatening instead of assuring, but the behemoth man has always been contradictory that way, casually defying everyone's assumptions and expectations of him._

_A gentle giant, as the maids around the estate call him. Kisame is careful and tentative despite his massive frame and terrifying looks. He’s a middle-school dropout that ends up graduating first-class honour from the most elite nursing school. He is Izuna’s best decision in life, despite the whole Uchiha family is already aware that Izuna has fully intended of living his life without having the responsibilities of raising children._

_(And look what happens now, ten years into the future and all of Kisame’s younger siblings are already accustomed to look at Izuna and call him ‘Dad’)_

_If you expect one thing from Kisame, chances are, he wouldn’t do as expected and you’re in for a surprise._

_Following that logic, it shouldn’t be a surprise when Kisame betrays Tobi’s expectation without a second thought._

_Or Kisame is just **that** whipped and smitten. There is that possibility too._

_Either way, Tobi isn’t prepared for the little smile Kisame gave to his delighted charge. He isn't prepared to watch Kisame locking gazes with Obito as the two share a wordless conversation through smiles and eye expressions._

_No._

_Tobi isn’t prepared with an escape plan when Kisame effortlessly carries Obito towards him. He couldn’t take back the declaration because it has been a long time since he sees that enthusiastic happy shine in his twin’s eyes and he refuses to ruin it. He couldn’t make a run for it either because he is engaged to a ruthless traitor and Konan now is blocking his escape path, standing right behind him like an unmoving mountain._

_There is a lump in his throat and his saliva tastes painfully bitter when Kisame stops just a step away from him, grinning expectantly when Obito leans away from him to reach out towards Tobi. Skinny arms extend towards him—hopeful and welcoming._

_It is an automated reaction for Tobi to oblige that silent request, taking the light weight of his twin into his arms and strains hard to not wince at the thought that Obito feels lighter than everything else that he has ever carried. Those skinny arms take custody over his neck, circling around his throat and shoulder in a loose loop. Comfortable now, Obito buries his face into the crook of Tobi’s neck, his warm breath fans over the tensed muscle._

_Tobi leans his temple against Obito’s head and exhales a deep sigh, feeling his muscles loosen almost instantly when his twin curls in his arms._

**_Home_ ** _._

_He feels at home once again._

_“Tobi?”_

_Tobi cradles Obito closer, clinging to that warmth that he almost lost ten years ago._

_“You’re better?”_

_Tobi thinks of Kakashi, of the broken whimper, of the hopeless tears-glazed stare and the regret in those dark eyes._

_He immediately tightens his hold on Obito then, curling his fingers around his twin’s useless legs while his other arm pulls Obito closer into the safety of his embrace. He could feel the curl of Obito’s fingers at the back of his shirt and Tobi immediately presses his lips on Obito’s temple._

_“Mmm,” he hums, thinking of the guilt that haunts Kakashi’s tormented eyes._

_“Tobi?”_

_“I’m better,” Tobi murmurs, shifting slightly so that Obito could see his assuring smile. "Don't worry."_

_His phone is buzzing in his back pocket, vibrating in a specific pattern which only means that Zetsu has important info for him. He ignores it, already knowing what Zetsu wishes to tell him._

_After all, Kakashi was completely broken when Tobi delivered that last blow._

_He made his last move, knowing exactly how Kakashi would respond._

_“Really?” Obito presess again, unconvinced. "You're better?"_

_Tobi meets Obito’s worried gaze and remembers his last glimpse of Kakashi._

_He remembers the despair that hung over Kakashi’s slouched shoulders. He remembers the regretful tears that dripped down Kakashi’s cheeks. He remembers the hysteric pleas for forgiveness—the desperate chant of “I’m sorry”—that resounded from the closed room as he stepped out of the apartment._

_He remembers glancing up to his balcony, looking out the window of his car all the way up to the seventh floor and saw the mop of messy silver leaning brokenly over the railings of the balcony._

_Ah. Now that he thinks of it, Kakashi's own apartment is on the seventh floor too._

_Which one will it be? His or **his**?_

_Which apartment will be the witness of history repeating itself?_

_To be honest, Tobi doesn't care._

_He wins either way._

_So Tobi lets his smile grows wider as he pulls Obito into yet another crushing hug._

_“I’m better now.”_

_Obito beams, body relaxing when Tobi's hands trace up his spine to cradle his head. He tilts his head to rest on Tobi's shoulder, looking like he is about to fall asleep when his twin's fingers thread through his hair to carefully trace the surgical scars on his scalp. Obito then giggles and buries his face at the crook of his older twin's neck where he murmurs softly;_

_“I love you.”_

_Tobi smiles, eyes gazing fondly at Obito, his senses are completely tuned on his twin. Obito is the centre of his attention now. His **world**. The light weight of Obito's limp body in his arms. The slight drag in Obito's slurred speech. The little trembles of his arms around Tobi's neck. The loving bright shine of his eyes.  The warmth of his frail body._

_The love and happiness that he radiates._

_Drown and drunk in the love of his twin, Tobi vaguely hears the fading sound of ambulance sirens from the city._

_Instead, he beams too, mirrorring the expression he has always failed to mimic as he rests his forehead against Obito’s._

_The monster is gone._

_Obito is happy now _—safe_ and alive._

_And that all that matters._

_“I love you too."_

_This is **their** happy end._

_Far, far in the background, somewhere in the city outside the gates of the Uchiha Estate, the sound of ambulance’s siren fades into silence._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shall I end it here? I think that is enough breadcrumbs for your imagination. 😂😂
> 
> I scrapped this chapter multiple times (rewriting and then completely scrapping the fluffy KisaObi part and all the Uchiha-Hoshigaki family fluff) and I think this is the best version that delivers the ending of this story. It could end here, or should I ease the implied angst of this chapter with a chapter of fluff as an extra?
> 
> And before you ask...  
> 1\. Yes, Tobirama's hair is bright orange. I had to scrap the explanation for this but he has his own reasons for it.  
> 2\. Tobirama also ends up marrying Madara and become Tobi-Obito's stepfather.  
> 3\. Izuna adopted Kisame and his younger siblings.  
> 4\. Kisame graduates from nursing school and instantly becomes Obito's private nurse/permanent teddy bear.


End file.
